April 4th

Jimin cocked an eyebrow and titled her head, newly dyed blonde locks toppling to the side. ‘So, I got a call from your boyfriend yesterday. Care to tell me what’s going on?’

‘He’s not my boyfriend’, I responded briskly, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.

‘I could’ve sworn it was only last week that you were excitedly talking about marrying him.’

‘I think you’ve remembered incorrectly.’

‘Min, I’m your best friend. You know I have the memory of an elephant.’

‘Well I don’t have the memory of an elephant, so how would I remember that?’

Jimin snatched my mug away and pointed a manicured finger. ‘Tell me what happened. You guys were so happy…where did things go wrong?’

‘Honestly’, I started, whacking her hand away, ‘I didn’t realise things had gone wrong until I found him having with a co-worker in our bed a couple of days ago.’

‘You seem less bothered by this than I would have expected.’

I shrugged. ‘It hurts, but there’s nothing either of us can do about it. I’ll never be able to trust him again, so it’s best that I just move on. Plus, I met someone yester – ‘

My words caught in my throat as the bell sounded, alluding to the arrival of a new customer. Chanyeol strolled in, sporting a cute button down and charming grin. With a hand outstretched just the slightest bit, almost so little it couldn’t be noticed, he navigated his way through the café’s cluster of tables and chairs to safely arrive by the front counter. The waitresses beamed as they came to greet him and fidgeted with their hair in preparation to flirt with the handsome customer.

Jimin clicked her fingers, attempting to recover my attention. ‘Yah, Min! You just stopped midsentence.’

‘Oh…what was I saying?’

‘You met someone yesterday?’

‘That’s right! I met him yesterday’, I confessed, my tone all too cheerful as I gestured towards Chanyeol who had taken a seat by the back of the café.

He drummed his fingers against the table and bopped his head to an invisible beat. His curly locks bounced up and down, some slipping into his eyes. Without missing a bop, he tucked the strands behind his pointed ears and began to softly sway. I giggled. He was too adorable.

‘What kind of drugs is he on? His eyes are all hazed over’, Jimin muttered, glaring fiercely.

‘I think he just thrives on happiness.’

‘Is he looking at that woman’s ?’

‘No.’

‘It sure looks like it. His eyes haven’t moved once.’

‘He’s not looking at her , I promise you.’

‘You’re very quick to defend someone you hardly know. You guys must’ve really hit off, huh?’

‘He’s blind, Jimin.’

My friend quickly fell silent and glanced over at Chanyeol once more, whose focus had not shifted. Guilt shadowed her expression and she gently mouthed an apology, before returning to her coffee.

‘You should go over to him’, she suggested suddenly, smirking.

Without a second thought I was power walking towards Chanyeol’s table. By the time I pulled out a chair to sit down, he had started tearing away at a napkin to create odd shapes. His head continued to sway and he frowned, undoubtedly trying to entertain himself. When the napkin had transformed into a pile of jaggedly ripped pieces, he slouched and sighed. He was still for a moment, until his nostrils flared as he silently sniffed at something.

‘Min, is that you?’ he questioned, eyebrows furrowing.

I grinned. ‘Yet again, you have not failed to impress me.’

‘It’s nothing, really. You have a unique scent, so it’s not hard to miss…in a good way I mean! You smell good! Really good! I should probably stop…’

‘What happened to the cool, calm and collected Park Chanyeol I met the other day?’ I queried, trying to stifle laughter forcefully with my hands.

He groaned, his head plonking down against the table. ‘I was doing well until my friends started to tease me after you left. I’m usually calm because I don’t know what people look like or what they’re doing, but when they explained how pretty you were…you know…’

I leant across the table, my fingers extending to playfully fiddle with his hair. Though I couldn’t witness his cheesy expression, I could quite easily see the rapid reddening of his cheeks. Only when the waitress served his drink could I see his face once again.

I tapped his nose. ‘If you’re nervous because you heard that I was pretty, how do you think I feel? I’m sitting across from a very handsome man right now.’

‘Oh, what does he look like?’

‘Hmm, let me see. He has very cool hair; it’s all cute and curly. His ears are pointy and kind of fairylike and he has this really genuine smile. Plus, he’s got great shoulders. They’re so broad, I bet a plane could land on them.’

Chanyeol sighed, shoulders slumping. ‘What a lucky guy. I wish I looked like that.’

‘Ah, you’re so clueless’, I exclaimed, chuckling at his dejected appearance, ‘I was describing you!’

He blushed, his face beginning to look like a tomato. ‘Ah…I don’t know what I look like, remember?’

‘I’ll just have to remind you often then.’

‘You plan on seeing me often?’

‘I enjoy your company…so, if it’s okay…I’d like for us to hang out.’

‘Are you doing anything now?’ he asked quietly, outlining the rim of his coffee mug, ‘because if you’re free, I think we should get out of here. There’s somewhere I really want to go. I think you’ll like it.’

I was already standing before he had finished his sentence, eager to do anything that permitted me to gaze at his handsome features for a little while longer. Taking his shaky hand in my own, I escorted him out onto the street and then allowed him to take the lead. As we progressed, his personality warmed up as it had done the other day and his nerves seemed to melt away. As though we were a giddy teenage couple, our hands swayed and we each walked with a skip in our step.

It took me a while to realise that we had wandered into a huge garden. We stood in the middle of perfectly sculpted flowerbeds, the stunning colours curving and spiralling into exceptional patterns, the array of scents colliding to form something so sweet that I felt my body relax as I breathed it in. Further on, cherry blossom trees twisted around one another, constantly dropping petals that looked like fairy floss. Occasional marble statues popped out of hedges, their expressions welcoming and attire somewhat magical. I rested my head on Chanyeol’s shoulder and smiled.

‘Now that I think about it’, he whispered, wrapping an arm around my waist, ‘I think I know why I like this place so much. It smells like you.’