“Sehun, wake up honey.” I dug myself in deeper into my blankets, groaning.

 

“No.” I mumbled into my pillow.

 

“Sehun I made breakfast.” Wow, all of a sudden I am so awake. I sat up quickly to find Auntie looking a little worried. I jumped up on to my feet, out off Tao’s bed. Tao’s bed? I must have fallen asleep and he took me home. He is going to be so mad at me…..

 

“Sehun, do you know where Tao is?” I looked to auntie and shook my head. I don’t remember anything after the bubble tea store.

 

“He not come home last night?” I asked slowly stretching my arms above my head.

 

“No he dropped you off, changed, and left. After you eat, go find him.”

 

“Auntie,” I whined, “I don’t know where he could be, I still new around here!”

 

“It will help you learn the area then.” She shoved me out of the room and downstairs to eat while she made back into Tao’s room to fix his bed. I all but tumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen to find soup and toast waiting for me on the table, along with Tao’s dad.

 

“Uncle!” I ran to him, hugging his shoulders.

 

“Sehun!” He was just as excited to see me, to be honest I was much closer to Tao’s dad than my own father.

 

“Where have you been!?” I pulled away to sit across from him and start my breakfast.

 

“I had some work that I had to leave the city for. Better question, where have you been? It’s been a few years.” He spoke slowly letting me process the Chinese. I thought on it for a while, trying to find the right word,

 

“Busy!” He laughed and went back to his news, that he was reading before I came down. We sat, me eating and him reading, in silence till Auntie came down.

 

“Eat faster!” She urged me, when she saw i had barely made a dent on the soup. “You have to go find Tao.”

 

“Let the boy eat first. If your that worried I will go find him myself.” Uncle spoke up before Auntie could hassle me more. Auntie groaned and muttered something, to quick for me to understand and the two quieted down.

 

I finished my soup more quickly and went upstairs to clean up. I wasn’t going out in my clothes from school on Friday. I changed into so black ripped up jeans, my knees fully exposed, surely Auntie would throw these away if she saw them in the laundry. I pulled on a gray v-neck and snagged one of Tao’s never ending supply of leather jackets, why does he own so many? As a second thought, I grabbed a knitted red scarf and matching hat sitting on the coat hanger by the door.

 

“Auntie I’m going out to find Tao!” I yelled heading out the door.

 

The wind blew in my face, and suddenly I was glad to have the scarf and hat. I stopped at the corner, looking at the cross roads. Maybe he was at the gym. Thats where I found him last time. Now how do I get there again?

 

After almost an hour of aimless wandering I just happened to stumble upon Tao’s favorite gym, and sighed a sigh of relief.

 

I heeved open the doors, receiving that familiar blast of warm air, and quickly entered, shedding my hat and scarf. The boxing ring looked empty, and there was no sound of anyone using the punching bags.

 

“Tao?” I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth to make my voice to travel further. “Tao?”

 

A head popped up on the boxing ring, someone was laying down in there. I hesitantly wondered closer and Tao came into view.

 

“Where have you been?” I asked, trying to climb up onto the ring and slide under the ropes. After a few attempts I rolled onto the mat, ungracefully no doubt, and Tao rolled over making room for me to lay next to him.

 

“It’s a 24 hour gym.” Was all he mumbled. I sighed and looked over at him, he was staring at the ceiling, blankly.

 

“Auntie was worried.” He hummed. Tao was wearing leather pants and a leather jacket with a stained shirt under it.

 

“What happened to your shirt?” I asked quietly. He didn’t respond right away but sighed instead.

 

“I ran into someone and they spilled their drink on me.”

 

“And so, where were you? A club?”

 

“Yeah but I left after my shirt got wrecked.”

 

“And so you came here,” I said more of to myself, connecting the dots. Tao nodded and the two of us fell into silence.

 

“I ran into TaeMi,” He mumbled lowly.

 

“What?” I sat up looking at him, wild eyed. “What did you do to her!?”

 

“Calm down Hun. I didn’t do anything.” He reached out shoving me back down, and I huffed in response. “We accidently ran into each other.”

 

“I wonder what she was doing at a club,” I whispered to myself, not intending for Tao to give me an answer.

 

“I don’t know. You tell me the two of you are closer. When I asked her she got all defensive.”

 

“Probably because you said something mean.” I grumbled and he scoffed.

 

“I may not like her but I am not some inhuman evil being, calm down Sehun.” I pouted, TaeMi plus Tao was not a good mix. Tao’s phone buzzed and he patted his pants pocket, looking for the device, before pulling it out and answering the phone, with only a quick glance at who was calling. He must have been ignoring Auntie because I can see clearly that his phone is not dead.

 

“Yes?” Tao asked amiblically.

 

“Yeah I will pay you back.” He said to the voice on the other line.

 

“Who are you talking to?” I asked, not really caring if the other person heard me, but obviously Tao did, because he glared at me pretty hard.

 

“I am with Sehun… sure.” Tao handed me the phone and I looked at him confused.

 

“Hello?” I asked slowly.

 

“Sehun!” TaeMi called out my name, and a huge smile came about my face. “Don’t worry about Tao, I got him back,” She laughed, god I love her laugh.

 

“Why his shirt look bad?” TaeMi laughed again and hummed a soft yes.

 

“He got stuff on my shirt too so I am making him pay me back for the dry cleaning.” The girl had the most mesmerizing laugh, if I could I would listen to it all day long.

 

“TaeMi.” I interrupted her laughter.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Will you see me tonight?” I asked quickly. Tao sat up and gave me this weird look. I just stared back at him.

 

“What do you mean?”
 

“Meet me in front of the school at 2.” I couldn’t read Tao’s look but he looked slightly angry when he l diverted his gaze and stood up.

 

“Okay?”

 

“Bye.” I said quickly and hung up when I saw Tao reach down for his phone. I sat up and handed it to him, saving him the trouble.

 

“Did you just ask her out?” There was definitely something more than anger in his voice.

 

“Maybe. Why?” He scoffed and I stood. The two of us ducked under the ropes of the ring and hopped down. He kept walking while I stopped. I looked at his back and spoke up,

 

“I think I like her.” Tao stopped then also, but he refused to look at me. After a moment of silence and no body moving, Tao stormed out of the gym, going god knows where.

 

I took a deep breath and checked my phone for the time, it was nearly one. I didn't really feel like heading back home, and I already had my wallet with me. I left the gym, putting my scarf and hat back on.

 

I tried to get to a bus station, if I got to a bus station, I know the bus I need to take to get to the school. With 20 minutes under my belt and luck on my side, I found a bus stop. The bus I needed to take to get to the school wouldn’t be here for quite a while so I sat at the bench near the stop. I pulled out my phone, grabbing my earbuds, slipping them I put on some music. Bobbing my head up and down I hummed to the familiar Korean lyrics. It was good to have something from home, even if it was just his music, in a foreign place.

 

When the bus arrived I kept my headphones in and payed the bus driver heading to a window seat in the middle of the bus. I stopped humming, but that didn’t stop me from bobbing my head and tapping my foot against the floor.

I watched the scenery pass by. Why did I say that to Tao? I didn’t know I liked her, it just came out. I thought about all the time I spent with TaeMi. The time we went out to eat. The time we spent on the roof. When I took her to the house and we had dinner together. When she stayed with me at the hospital. Even though we had a language barrier it didn’t stop us from having fun together. Maybe I did like her. I knew Tao would be angry with me when I got home later today, but I wanted to enjoy my time with TaeMi, without Tao.

 

The bus arrived at the school and it was only ten to two, perfect timing, I smiled to myself. I made my way to the shut gate of the school and leaned against the wall, not putting my leg up because that would be too cliché. I fixed my hat and took out my phone to change the song. While the device was in my hand TaeMi texted saying she would be early. I grinned like a fool to myself, but I didn’t care if I looked like a weirdo smiling at his phone, I was happy.

 

It was only one song later when I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to be greeted by a smiling TaeMi. I yanked out my earbuds and stuffed them in my pocket, not forgetting to pause the music.

 

“TaeMi,” I sighed, greeting her with an equally bright smile that reached my eyes easily.

 

“Sehun why did you want to see me?” She asked wind blowing her hair around her face. The girl was wearing a pair of black jeans, white sneakers and a red wool jacket. “It’s cold,” She whined earning a quiet chuckle from myself.

 

“Eat with me.” It wasn’t really a question, so hopefully I got my Chinese right. I really did want to eat with her.

 

“I just ate lunch,” TaeMi pouted, just about killing me, and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets.

 

“Then walk, then eat?” I asked and she nodded and the two of us walked into the city. Our school sat right on the edge of downtown. I had not yet had the time to explore the downtown except when I went out to eat that one time with TaeMi, so it would be nice to explore. Especially with TaeMi, one she knew the city and she wouldn’t complain like Tao.

 

We stopped in a small shop when TaeMi saw a cute hat in the window and wanted to see what it looked like on her. She dragged me in by my wrist, not that I was putting up much of a fight. The girl picked out the hat and stood in front of the mirror set up by the hat rack.

 

“How do I look?” Playing with the brim of the hat, the girl spun around, grinning from ear to ear. I gave her two thumbs up and an eye smile, I knew that praise would translate well. Apparently it did, amazingly well actually, because TaeMi giggled and turned back to the mirror, admiring her reflection.

 

“I’m going to buy it!” She declared in a giddy voice and removed the hat to look at the price. Her face went glum in a moments notice, “It’s way too expensive.” She placed the hat back in its rightful spot and turned back to me. I saw the frown on her face and knew I had to do something. I looked around the shop, it was supposed to have a cute vintage feel but everything looked quite expensive. I spotted a bathroom and smiled to myself.

 

“I bathroom, you wait outside for me?” I asked her pointing across the store to the bathroom. She smiled grimly and nodded. TaeMi made her way out the store and sat on the bench outside the show window. As soon as I saw her sit I picked up the hat she had so grudgingly put back. I looked at the price tag and smiled, no problem TaeMi. I made my way to the counter and handed the check out lady the hat, she scanned it and I handed her my card. Although I didn’t have any cash, I knew my card worked in both China and Korea, I had made sure that was the case when I signed up for the card a few years back, but Tao didn’t need to know that.

 

“Is this a gift for your girlfriend?” The cashier asked lightly. At first I was caught off guard, the only only understood “gift” and “girlfriend”, she spoke too fast. She hummed as if asking again and I was brought back down to earth. I nodded quickly smiling.

 

“I’ll gift wrap it for you then.” She turned away and pulled out a cute hat box. It was white and pastel pink stripes with beige lace the top. She wrapped the hat quickly in a pastel matching tissue paper and set it in the box. She taped the lid shut and handed me the box by the beige ribbon handle. I smiled and the lady smiled back. I quickly exited the shop, knowing I took longer than I should have.

 

“Sehun what took you so-” TaeMi was about to complain when I cut her off.

 

“TaeMi,” I grinned at her and held out the round box.

 

“Sehun,” She frowned.

 

“Gift. For you.” I stated before she could refuse. TaeMi mumbled something in Chinese under her breath, and accepted the box from my hands.

 

“You’re too nice.” The girl smiled and the two of us were walking again. We walked around for an hour or so when TaeMi started saying her feet hurt.

 

“Eat now” I asked turning to her, she nodded vigorously. The girl pulled at my wrist, once more, dragging me along. In no time we arrived at the noodle place we had first ate together, and just by luck we sat in the same spot.

 

“Same as before?” TaeMi asked, settling in her seat, and placing the hat box in between us on the table. I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Sehun,” She called out my name. I hummed,

 

“Yes?”

 

“I had fun.” TaeMi smiled again, but this one seemed more shy, as she looked down at the vox, avoiding eye contact, fiddling with the ribbon on the box.

 

“Me too.” She looked up, our eyes meet again, and I gave her my most charming eye smile. She shied away, and the waiter choose this time to ask for our orders. TaeMi looked up to order, but didn’t look at me, but that gave me full view of the light blush dusting her cheeks. When the waiter left I spoke up, catching TaeMi’s hand resting on the table in my own, gaining her attention and her gaze.

 

“Let’s do this again.” The girl blushed even more, nodding shyly.

 

“Sehun, I have a question,” She asked looking at my hand still holding hers, I hummed, following her gaze to our hands.

 

“Was, is, this a date?” TaeMi tore her hand from mine to cover her red face. I watched her intently, a smile stretching even further, if possible, across my face. I reached for her hands, over the box, and pried them from her face causing her to look at me briefly before preferring to look at the floor.

 

“If you want it a day, it can be a day.” I squeezed her hands lightly. I heard a small laugh come from the girl, before she fully broke down in laughter. TaeMi looked at me, seeing my confused look and laughed more. It was more than a minute before she recovered, but still had a few stay giggles escaping from her perfect lips.

 

“I want it to be a day.” TaeMi smiled at me, mocking my Chinese but in a light hearted way. I groaned,

 

“I messed up Chinese didn’t I?” She nodded a string of laughter coming up again. I huffed, dropping my head onto my forearms, as our hands were still entwined over the lid of the hat box.

 

“I knew what you meant,” TaeMi insisted, taking her turn to squeeze my own hands. I looked up at her, embarrassment written across my face.

 

“What is the word?” I asked, she smiled finally her laughter died down.

 

“A date. This is a date.” TaeMi’s smile almost blinded me with it’s brilliance. I grinned back, tearing my gaze away from her own to our hands. My large pale ones tangled with her small equally pale hands.

“Yes this is a date. I’m on a date with TaeMi,” I mumbled to myself in Korean, when the waiter arrived with our food. We finally released eachothers hands and TaeMi set the box on the chair next to her. We thanked the waiter and attacked our food with smiles never leaving our faces. I knew Tao wouldn’t like this new development but at this moment I was too happy to really care. Yes, I had only known TaeMi for a week, but it doesn’t take very long to fall head over heels for someone as sweet as her. I had no idea what all these lies Tao was spewing about TaeMi, because to me she was the most dazzlingly perfect person I had ever met.

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Updating from school lol anyways this is a little over 3K words >< longest chapter yet I think. Do you like this length? If you guys see any mistakes don't hesitate to tell us. We do edit eachother's work but we aren't perfect. Thanks~