Falling in love is like the rain. You can’t predict it, but you can always see signs of it before it completely falls.

24^th August 2015

2 hours into her practice, Aleyah’s delicate fingers finally came to a stop. They rested on the white keys as the owner took a deep breath. It was time for her 15 minutes break. Rotating her hands, she walked out of the music room just in time to see a bottle of strawberry milk with a post it sitting prettily in the middle of the doorway.

She picked it up and slowly broke into a beautiful smile.

Drink me.

P.S: I can hear your stomach growling while you were talking just now.

Instinctively, Aleyah rubbed her stomach and asked herself. “Was it that loud?”

Obediently, she finished the strawberry milk that Kai had bought for her and resumed her practice. When she was finally done for the day, the sun was already setting and it casted a nice orange glow into the music room. Aleyah picked up her bag, ready to head back home. When she pulled open the door, she was greeted by a boy who was smiling brightly at her.

“Done?”

Aleyah was shocked to see Kai standing outside the music room waiting for her. She had forgotten about how he said he would wait for her but she was more taken aback that he honoured his words. Chanyeol used to tell her that he would pick her up from the music room but he never once did. He would always end later than her and she would be the one going to the counselling room to find him instead.

“Shall we go for dinner then?” Kai asked her earnestly. He had been waiting for her for the past hour. He didn’t dare to enter the room, afraid that he might disturb her so he waited patiently outside. He just wanted to be friends with her. He just wants to talk to her and get to know her better. The thought of waiting for her already made him happy so now that she was here with him, he could not contain his excitement. He tugged her hand and brought her to the car park where he had parked his car. They boarded the car and within minutes, they were away from school.

“What do you like to eat?” Kai asked her curiously.

“Western food. I like spaghetti.” Aleyah replied. She was not shocked by his BMW 6 series car, it was common for seniors in their school to drive since they were old enough and rich enough to own fanciful cars.

“Really? Okay then.” Kai was glad to learn something new about her. He drove them to a Michelin rated French restaurant that needed a 6 months prior booking. Since she loves spaghetti, he only wants to give her the best. With Aleyah behind him, Kai walked into the restaurant and managed to get a table with the best view of Gangnam. He pulled the chair for her as they began their first dinner together. He could not care less about how the other diners were giving them judging looks because they were in uniforms.

“Aglio Olio without prawns.” Kai told the waitress as he continued to look at Aleyah.

“Same.” Aleyah flashed the waitress a smile before turning to Kai. “You can’t eat prawns too?”

“I have allergy.” Kai replied with a gentle grin, “You too?”

Nodding her head, Aleyah pouted sadly. “My lips get swollen if I eat them.. but prawns are really delicious..”

Kai chuckled at her cute reply. He straightened his back and leaned towards the table. “My lips get swollen too.”

“Really??” Aleyah was surprised that they have something in common. Before she could ask further, their conversation was interrupted by a phonecall.

“Hello? Mum?” Aleyah picked up her phone guiltily. It just hit her that she had forgotten to call her parents to tell them that she would be returning home late. She had always been responsible but today, it had totally slipped off her mind.

“Where are you sweetie?” Mrs Lee asked her daughter.

“I’m…I’m having dinner with my friend.”

“Oh? Which friend?”

Aleyah looked up at the boy before her. He gave her a warm smile before turning away politely to let her talk on her phone. She knew that she could not tell her parents about having dinner with a guy. They would not be very happy about it. There were a few times that she went out with her male classmates for lunch and when they found out, they were not very pleased. The only time they were alright with her going out with a male, was when she was with Chanyeol.

“Am.. Amber.” She replied as softly as she could, afraid that Kai would hear her.

“I see. Okay. Don’t come home too late alright? Stay safe.” With that, Mrs Lee hung up the phone and Aleyah put her phone back into her pocket gingerly.

Kai could see her actions from the reflection of the glass. His eyes had never once left her that night. It would probably never leave her. He enjoys watching her every expression and he wants to learn how to read them. Just like how he had learnt that when she lies, she would blink more than usual.

“Your family doesn’t allow you to go out after school?” Kai turned back to her after she had put down her phone. She gave an embarrassed grin upon realizing that Kai had heard everything she had said. Afraid that he might misunderstand, he explained.

“They are just a bit strict with me because I’m a girl. But they used to allow me to go out with Chan..” Aleyah stopped herself before she finished his name. She was not supposed to think about Chanyeol anymore.

“Not bad. You are improving.” Kai replied with a smile.

“What about?”

“Not thinking about him and you are smiling more now.” Kai told her gently. “You are finally stop wasting your time on people who don’t love you.”

“You know, there are 7 billion people in the world. There are boys just like him and there boys that are better than him. You’ll find someone, I’m sure.”

Aleyah blushed and nodded her head. He was right. She had reached a point where she had stopped texting him, stop answering his phone calls, stop going back to the person she knows is wrong for her. It was hard but like he said, she was improving because first loves will always have a place in her heart no matter what. Even though she was second priority for him and he did not treated her right, it did not change the fact that he was her first love. She would still notice him at every party and his facebook statuses would just have more meaning for her than other ones. And that just because he was her first love, nothing more.

Throughout the dinner, Kai and Aleyah had light conversation and surprisingly, Aleyah felt comfortable with him. She used to dislike going out for dinner with people she did not know but Kai was just like an old friend she knew. There was nothing she could not tell him and she liked that feeling.

“Just drop me at the corner.” Aleyah pointed to a place a distance away from her house. Kai obeyed and stopped the car.

“Thanks for the dinner today. I had fun. Really.” She told him sincerely. It was impromptu. Something she used to hate but she could not deny that it was fun even though all they did was just eat.

Kai watched the girl alight from his car as he bit his lower lips. She was leaving but he did not want things to end like this between them. When the door was closed, he quickly opened his and went to her side. Standing in front of her, he was suddenly robbed of words. his lips nervously, he braved himself and asked.

“Can I see you again?” Kai asked. He craved so much more than just a physical connection. He craved words and depth. He craved to know who she was and where she came from, her desires and fears. He yearned to know every inch of her beyond the surface. The question took him a lot of courage and he did not know why was it so difficult to ask in front of her. As she stared at him, Kai was dying from nervousness. Every silent moment decreased his chance as he clenched his fist tightly.

“Of course you can.” Aleyah chuckled at his adorable question and gave her his number before she left, leaving Kai staring at his phone for a long time with a kid-like grin till his phone vibrated in his hand.

It was a call from Xiumin.

When he picked up the phone, the kid-like grin disappeared alongside with those gentle set of eyes. It was replaced with a dark gaze that blended well with the nightsky. He stayed silent as the caller spoke hurriedly.

“Give me 15.”

With that, he boarded his car and disappeared into the streets of Seoul.

The night was still young.

Someone had already fallen in love or maybe, both had fallen in love? Hahah.

Something random, I'm thinking of writing a one shot recently. I've never been good at shortening my stories, I tend to build them up really slowly so I thought oneshot would probably challenege myself to do that. What do you guys think?

Enjoy!