"Why are you here?" Milan laughed. Chanyeol was in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers. It was around noon when he visited. Taemin peeked from behind before he snickered. 

"He's obviously here to court you," Taemin said sarcastically before pushing Milan aside," Anyways, Minho-hyung's waiting for me. We'll be eating out. Have fun, children, but don't do anything SPG, okay?" 

"S-SPG?" Milan's face grew red. Before she could ask Taemin what he meant, he already left. "That oppa really, I want to strangle him. If he weren't the legendary and perfect Lee Taemin."

"Legendary and perfect huh," Chanyeol sighed. 

"You're going to give that to me right?" Milan pointed the bouquet. Chanyeol handed it to her. 

"Yeah, sorry, uh, this is a bit sudden," Chanyeol said," I just don't want you to end up with someone else."

"So where do you plan to take me?" Milan asked. Chanyeol only smiled in reply. 

"It's a secret."

“What’s with all of this?” Milan asked when Chanyeol pulled the seat for her,” You’re being a gentleman.”

“I’m always a gentleman, y’know,” Chanyeol pouted before he sat across her,” And is it bad to treat the girl I love like this?”

“It’s just…” Milan paused for a minute to find the right word,” Weird. Out of the ordinary.”

“Well, I could say the same to you,” Chanyeol told her,” You didn’t tell Taemin to come with us.”

“It’s obvious he would reject my offer,” Milan bluntly said,” He does know that you like me.”

“And I used to regret that he knew,” Chanyeol chuckled,” it does have some perks if everybody knows who you want to date.”

“It does,” she nodded with a smile on her face,” When I liked Gab, everybody knew, and they kept on pushing us together.”

Chanyeol frowned. Didn’t Milan know it was taboo to mention other guys in a date? Maybe she did and she was just testing him. Chanyeol also expected that everybody knew that Milan liked that Gabriel dude. She was very open with her love for Taemin, what more for someone she spent time with everyday? Even so, it was all in the past, Chanyeol hoped.

“You never mentioned that Gab guy before to me,” Chanyeol frowned,” And you usually tell me everything about your life. Why did you keep him a secret?”

“I didn’t exactly keep him as a secret,” Milan smirked,” You weren’t listening to me, I guess. I told you about him before. I was bound to tell you after all, since he was the guy I last liked.”

“Why do you like everyone except for me then? Every guy you’re close with, you have some kind of emotional connection, like you want to date them or something,” Chanyeol complained. Oh? He’s jealous? Milan couldn’t help smiling. He looked silly and weird. He looked ugly and sounded clingy.

“Not every guy though,” Milan corrected him,” There’s Baekhyun, you know.”

“He has a girlfriend, of course you wouldn’t want to date him.”

“There’s Taeyong.”

“You know he has someone he likes.”

“Taehyung then.”

“He’s your sister’s boyfriend.”

“Mark from NCT then or Dino from Seventeen,” Milan smirked in victory,” I never wanted to date them, especially Mark. Well, in the past, like when I was 17, I wanted to date Dino.”

“You treat Mark as if he’s your twin brother. That is unfair!” Chanyeol snapped.

“It’s not, oppa,” Milan chuckled,” You just think it is. You think it’s unfair because you like me and yet, I never told you that I liked you the same way.”

“That’s not the case,” Chanyeol puffed his cheeks and pouted. He didn’t know what reasoning he’d use against her. She was great in finding loopholes. Chanyeol knew she was better off as a lawyer than a composer. He felt like he shrunk in his seat.

“It’s normal,” Milan said to break the silence,” I’d feel the same way too if the guy I like wouldn’t reciprocate my feelings.”

“You really matured huh,” Chanyeol whispered to himself,” But I admit, I really want to make you my girlfriend. I want to take you out every week to eat with me. I want to hug you and kiss you. I want to be always with you.”

“Well, you already take me out every week to eat. Your mom knows me. We hug a lot. You’re always with me. We just don’t kiss,” Milan enumerated,” We’re practically acting like a couple.”

“Acting does not cut it. We’re not a couple,” Chanyeol whined,” And I really want us to be. I’m doing my best. I’m studying your native tongue. I’m training hard to be able to dance as well as Taemin.”

“That would be impossible, oppa,” she laughed,” Taemin-oppa improved with all the years that passed. But I appreciate your effort. But, you know, oppa, if you want to improve yourself, I’d appreciate it more if you’re doing for yourself and not for me.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We’ll be separated one day, oppa. That’s impossible to avoid. It might be tomorrow or the next year or death, we’re not quite sure,” Milan explained,” That’s why I don’t want you to improve because of me, but because you want to improve in your own means.”

“I can’t resist this anymore,” Chanyeol muttered before he seemed to search something in his jeans’ pockets.

“What? What resist?” Milan asked. Chanyeol showed her a silver ring with a diamond on it. He smiled shyly at her.

“Too much? Is it?” Chanyeol asked. Milan stared at the ring for quite a while. “Please don’t lecture me about wasting my money. I’m sure I didn’t waste it. If it’s you, it wouldn’t be a waste.”

“But, oppa, proposing? We’re not even dating yet,” Milan said.

“It’s like proposing, fake proposing, that’s right! We do act like a couple right? When you wear this, it’ll mean we don’t act like a couple but we are a couple. It’ll confirm our relationship,” Chanyeol said as he pushed the ring towards her. “Please accept this. Even if you don’t wear it for now, I’ll be glad if you just accept it.”

Milan knew she had no choice. Chanyeol was stubborn about this. She slowly took the ring from the table and marvelled at how pretty it was.

“Also it’s not pure silver,” Chanyeol added, grinning at her,” Since this is a fake proposal, the ring’s fake too. But when I propose for real, I’ll give you a real ring!”

Milan couldn’t help laughing. She pocketed the ring before she smiled at him.

“If I was a personal fan of yours, you’d see me fainting,” she said,” Lucky enough, I’m just your best friend. No fainting for me.”

Chanyeol held Milan’s hands and placed them on his cheeks.

“You’ll be my girlfriend soon, anyways. My best girlfriend.”