#7 first dates

January 2nd. Youngjae

January 3rd. BamBam

The Eevee was softly smiling at you when you opened your eyes in the next morning. You replayed some moments in your mind from the date and for a second you almost forgot that you are meeting someone else again. Your best friend reminded you with a text message in which she told you the time and location of the next date. 

When you checked out the address, you were surprised that BamBam wanted to meet you in a mall. You thought it’s a bit odd but it might be good to get a rest from all the sports and games and just have fun looking around in stores. Besides malls always have a good variety of food to eat from. 

You quickly jumped out of bed and got ready for the date. This time you decided to be a little more stylish as your friend warned you BamBam most likely will end up dressing up in Gucci clothes and flashy accessories from head to toe. This made you a little worried as you looked at your closet with all the brandless average looking clothes you owned. Still, you managed to dig out a decent looking outfit that could have passed for something that came from a famous brand. 

Before you left your room, you took one last glance at the Eevee, and then you rushed out to catch your bus on time. 

The bus got into a little traffic as it was still early and people were leaving for work. You texted your best friend that she should let BamBam know that you will be late. In return, she texted that he will be late too. Off to a good start. 

Fifteen minutes late and you arrived at the entrance to the mall. The morning sun was beautifully shining, making it hard for you to look at the clear sky. There were no clouds to be seen but it didn’t really matter as you were most likely to spend your whole day in the mall.

While you were lost in your thoughts about the beautiful weather, a boy a few meters away noticed you and kept on checking you out. He was looking at his phone and a description of you, which he tried to match with the real flesh and bones. At last, he decided it must be who he is looking for, so he approached you. 

“Are you y/n?” The tall and skinny figure appeared, blocking the sun. At first, you didn’t know what to make out of him as it was just a regular college-aged guy in a shirt and a backpack. In addition with extra skinny and ripped jeans that made his already thin legs look like sticks. But his face though, it was different but very handsome. He looked nervous and so were you. 

“Yes, I’m waiting for a date,” you said with a little hesitance in your tone. 

“Oh I’m BamBam, you are waiting for me,” he said now with a big smile on his face. He looked relieved but his outfit was different from what you expected.

“Sorry to mention this but my friend told me you might dress into something expensive looking so at first I didn’t think it’s you,” you explained nervously as you were afraid he might think that you were a materialistic girl. 

“Well she is right I do tend to dress in trendy and expensive clothes but I didn’t want to get people’s attention on me and make you feel uncomfortable so I dressed more like a regular guy. But don’t worry, I have money, I’m not as broke as I look,” he added and you shook your head. 

“Don’t worry about it, that’s not why I asked. You could have 1000 won on your bank account and I would still be happy to date you,” you replied but then you realized this might have sounded pushy. 

“Great then! It was already hard to choose something normal looking from my closet so I’m glad it did the job,” he laughed and you thought how weird it is that you tried to get something fancy looking out of your closet to look more luxurious than you are actually, while BamBam did exactly the opposite. “Should we get coffee? I can’t start my day without it,” he said with a sigh. 

Inside you found a small Kakao Friends themed cafe where he bought iced americano for both of you, while you ordered some pastries for breakfast. 

“So did you like the date with Jackson hyung and Youngjae hyung?” He asked and you almost choked on your coffee. You were surprised he didn’t only know their names but he also called them hyung which indicated that they must be close. 

“You guys know each other?” You asked with wide eyes and for a second he didn’t answer. 

“Oops, maybe you weren’t supposed to know? I don’t know. I think it’s fair of you to know that we are all friends. But don’t worry, we didn’t talk about the dates. They refused to say anything. That’s the rule. It’s just happened that your best friend’s friend knows all seven of us,” he explained but that didn’t make you feel a lot better.

“But if a miracle happens and I do end up with one of you, that’s going to be a bit awkward,” you said while thinking about all the different scenarios. 

“Don’t worry y/n, nobody will make it awkward. One date is just a date like a friendly meet up. But you have to be careful. Because if you choose one of us and it doesn’t work out after almost getting in a relationship with that person and you choose someone else from us, then yes that will be awkward,” he warned you and you sighed deeply. Suddenly the pastry wasn’t tasting too good. 

“So I need to make a smart decision,” you said and he nodded. 

“Exactly, but don’t worry. Finish up your breakfast and then we can begin our shopping session, which is almost like therapy from all the stress,” he added and you quickly finished your breakfast even though you felt like throwing up.

The two of you started to look around on the first floor of the mall where you checked out different clothing stores. BamBam tried on some outfits and every time he came out of the fitting room he asked your honest opinion. Well for sure he had a bold and expensive taste and everything he put on he looked great in. And he knew it. 

“Y/n I think this outfit is really dope, don’t you think?” He asked and you nodded in agreement. In a different case, you would have been utterly bored and fed up with a guy’s vanity but BamBam was entertaining and you couldn’t tell anything bad about him. 

“So far, whatever you put on made you look like a model, so if you buy something similar to a garbage bag, you could make that your own too,” you told him which made him feel really proud.

“I guess I should bring you with me whenever I go shopping,” he replied and you chuckled.

“Please do, I’m actually having fun.”

After he chose a couple of clothes for himself, he helped to refresh your outfit a little bit. He begged you to try clothes even that were out of your comfort zone. Well, not necessarily those kinds of clothes, but more like the ones you would never think they would fit you. But BamBam had great eyes for these kinds of things. 

“Wow, I look like a different person,” you said as you checked out your reflection in the mirror. BamBam sat in a comfortable chair with a smug smile on his face. 

“I told you, just ask the pro,” he said but if you wouldn’t have seen him in luxurious clothes like thirty minutes before, you wouldn’t have believed that he is an expert with his college boy look. 

“I really like this dress, but I don’t have money to buy it,” you said with a bit of a sad expression. 

“Ah, don’t worry about that. If you want it I can buy it for you. At least I would be happy to know that I helped you in dressing better,” he said as he looked at the clothes that you were wearing regularly. 

“Come on, I can’t look that bad,” you said, but when you looked into the mirror after wearing all those nice clothes going back to the more shabby ones, you had to agree with BamBam. “Anyway, I can’t accept that offer. It’s nice of you but that would be too much.”

“Y/n, don’t worry about it. Let’s just say I’m doing a favor for you... and for your closet,” he replied and you shook your head. 

“Absolutely not...” 

“Half price?”

“BamBam! And even half price is too expensive for me,” you sighed. 

“Y/n, look at all my bags... your dress doesn’t even cost as much as that shirt I bought for myself, and that’s only one out of ten others,” BamBam pointed at one of the Chanel bags. 

“But I would feel like I owe you with this much money,” you protested even more. 

“Okay, if you really don’t want it. But I’m sure Jinyoung hyung would have loved this dress on you...”

“Who?” You asked as the name was familiar but in that second you didn’t exactly know who is he talking about. 

“One of my hyungs that you will have a date with, after tomorrow, I think. This outfit is just his style. Here look how handsome he is,” BamBam said while taking out his phone and showing you a picture, well, probably of Jinyoung. You got really surprised when you saw it. 

“Okay, is there anyone of you who is not handsome? Like did you all become friends because you were top visuals?” You said, amazed. BamBam chuckled. 

“Well if you ask me Youngjae hyung is not that typical handsome guy, but...”

“Hold on mister, Choi Youngjae is really handsome, don’t you dare talk like that about him,” you suddenly got all defensive especially at how you suddenly got reminded of the previous day you had with him. 

“I didn’t say he wasn’t handsome at all, we are all are. But he is just not that typical flower boy like Jinyoung hyung and Mark hyung is,” he explained.

“Wait, is Mark the one who I’m meeting tomorrow? Can you show me his picture?” 

“Absolutely not. I already went against our rules as I talked way too much about them and even showed you a picture of Jinyoung hyung,” he replied hiding his phone away in his back pocket. 

“Fine...” 

“So should we go to the cashier?”

“We are not buying that dress!”

“Yes, we are not. I am buying it, come on, stop whining,” he said and you lost your patience. 

“But I’m buying lunch for us then,” you replied and BamBam happily nodded.

“You see, this is how we do business here,” he laughed and you got annoyed but at the same time, you were also thankful to him.

After he finally bought the dress for you, it was time for lunch. He dragged you to a Thai restaurant and told you all the special food and drinks you had to try. As he is Thai himself, he was an expert at this topic too. When you got your order you started to eat and that’s when you realized how hungry you were. Sure shopping can be exhausting too. Your legs were especially hurting. 

“So are you enjoying your day?” He asked and you nodded as your mouth was full. “I’m glad you do. I’m having a lot of fun too.”

“I’m kind of confused though because it’s our date but you are still helping me get prepared for the other dates and you talk a lot about your friends. I mean it’s a relief that you are this nice, but I’m just curious why are you acting this way?” You asked. He had a faint smile on his face while he drank from his drink.

“Well, I’m not sure. You know I generally think of myself as a selfless person, and I really love my hyungs and my friend Yugyeom. I think you are amazing and if you do end up with either of us, that will be great... But I’m not sure if you would choose me...” He said the last part with a softer voice, he seemed a bit unsure about his feelings and thoughts.

“All of you have equal chances with me and I will reflect on the dates once I finished,” you said but you did notice it didn’t make him feel any better. “But I really think that you are a great guy. It’s really fun to be with you, I don’t feel stressed. It’s like I’m having a fun shopping day with someone I have known for a long time.”

“I do feel that with you too. We can talk so freely and in a comfortable way,” he added.

“Exactly! It’s probably because you have such a friendly and open personality. I really like that about you,” when you said these words, a smile appeared on his face. 

“Okay, now I’m feeling better. So I guess I have a chance too...”

“Of course you do! And thank you again for the dress... You really didn’t have to,” you said still feeling a bit embarrassed by it. 

“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. That money I would have spent on myself anyway, and believe me, I have way too many clothes already,” he chuckled and that made you feel better. 

“Well, this is definitely going to be one of the most memorable gifts from any of the dates I had and will have in my life,” you told him and his smile got even bigger. 

After you finished with lunch, you felt it’s time to relax even more. You found two massage chairs in the mall which needed a few hundred wons and in return, it gave you a full on massage that made both of you feel even more relaxed. 

“Wow, I love today,” BamBam said while the chair was shaking him up. 

“It’s been a while since I had this much fun while shopping,” you confessed. “I have to admit at first I thought it’s kind of odd to have a first date in a mall, but it all makes sense now.”

“I know just look at me! I mean not now, but when I dress more the way I usually do. You could tell then that malls are like Heaven to me. Though sometimes I do prefer online shopping, but getting back to the old days when you and your friends hung out in malls is kind of necessary to go back to where everything started,” he said philosophically and you had to agree with him. 

It was time for the two of you to say goodbye. You thanked again for the millionth time the dress that he bought. The two of you exchanged numbers and you had to promise BamBam that even if he is not the chosen one, you will still go shopping with him because he had a lot of fun too. He also thought that you had great opinions and insights while he was trying on different outfits. 

At home, you put on the dress again and took a picture of yourself in the mirror. You sent it to BamBam and told him he really has a good taste with clothes. “Okay but tomorrow you can’t wear this because you will spend the whole day outside with Mark hyung. Don’t catch a cold,” he texted back with a winky face. “Stop teasing me about my dates ><’” you wrote him back as he drove you crazy with all the hints and spoilers he was dropping. It was unclear how these dates will make you feel at the end, but for sure you gained a really good friend already in BamBam and who knows how can that continue from here?  

January 1st. Jackson || 7 First Dates

You were nervous about your very first date that was coming up right on January 1st. You were glad that your date didn’t schedule the meeting too early as you were still recovering from New Year's Eve. Your best friend told you the time and place where you should go. She made sure that none of the guys know your number so that they can’t bother you in case the date doesn’t go too well. But if you do like each other, then it’s even better if you exchange your numbers right at the end of a well-made date. 

Jackson, as she said that’s the first date’s name, scheduled the meeting at six at one of the largest skating rinks in the city. You were not too sure about this idea as you and sports was not the best match, but during winter time skating does have a nice vibe. 

Since you didn’t own a good pair of skates, you decided to just rent a pair when you get to the place. You made sure you dressed warmly as the weather outside wasn’t too warm, especially after the sun went down. It was hard to deny for yourself all the worry that you had since your stomach kept on making weird noises and you felt like throwing up. 

“Just make sure that you won’t end up bringing him home,” your best friend said with a cheeky wink as she helped you bundle up against the cold.

“You are too funny, I probably can’t even make them kiss me, especially not to bring them home,” you snort and she giggles.

“You are so cute, they gonna love you,” she said as she patted your head which you absolutely hated, at least when you were nervous, otherwise you loved it.  

“Okay I leave before you make me feel even more annoyed,” you murmured and she wished you luck as you left the house. 

The cool breeze hit your face and you wished your best friend would have come up with this plan maybe on a warmer week in spring. Regardless, you sat on the bus and followed the route that the map suggested to you. There were a lot of couples on the bus, cuddling together, whispering sweet nothings, softly smiling at each other. You hated to see them because it reminded you of how alone you felt. Maybe these dates will take your mind off from feeling sorry for yourself, at least you hoped. 

When you got off from the bus, you tried to locate the small cafe beside the rink. Jackson told your friend he is going to be waiting for you there, wearing a black puffer coat and a hat with the Chinese character “wang” on it. Just to make sure, you looked up what character he mentioned so that you can find him easily. Of course, your friend let him know too what you are going to wear and how you look like. Still, there were too many people sitting in the cafe to get warm after spending so much time on the rink. You were scared what if you won’t find him. Maybe it would have been better to exchange numbers, you thought. 

“Are you y/n?” You suddenly heard a voice from behind you. When you turned around you saw a guy who wasn’t that much taller than you but even under the thick coat, you could see that he was well built. He had big, round deep brown eyes with double eyelids. His face was really handsome and charming and for a second you didn’t know what to say. But then you noticed the Chinese character on his hat and you smiled. 

“Oh, are you Jackson?” You asked while blushing and he nodded with a bright smile. Damn, you thought, his smile was so warm. 

“It’s nice to meet you y/n. I’m glad we found each other. There are so many people here I was afraid I won’t spot you. But it was hard not to spot such a pretty girl,” he said cheekily and he already charmed you away. 

“Please, you can’t complain either. It’s been a while since I had a date with such a handsome guy,” you complimented him and he let out a cute chuckle. His smile was sweet, but his laugh was even nicer. 

“Are you ready to break some bones?” He asked while looking at the crowded skating rink. Well at first you were scared to ice skate but now seeing that your date was a pretty athletic guy, you didn’t worry anymore.

“Sure, let’s do this. But I need to rent skates,” you added as you looked down on your shoes and Jackson nodded.

“It’s okay, I need to rent a pair too,” he replied and then the two of you walked towards the booth where you could rent your skates. 

“This size should be fine,” he said as he handed you the skates. The two of you locked your things away in one of the empty lockers then you sat on a smaller bench to put on the skates. Jackson put his pair on skillful and pulled hard on the strings to make them stay on his feet. However, you struggled a little as it kept on coming off from your feet. Jackson softly smiled then he kneeled down in front of you. Your heart skipped a beat. It never happened in your life that such a handsome gentleman like him would kneel before you. He took pulled your right leg closer to him so he could tie your skate better. He was sure strong like he looked. Then he did the same with your other feet. It was nothing for me but you kept on turning red like a nice tomato. 

“Thank you,” you smiled and he just nodded. But now it was time for you to stand up. Well, it didn’t go too well. You lost your balance and Jackson had to catch you before it would have gone even worse.

“We are not even on the ice yet and you are already falling,” he laughed and you almost said, well I’m falling in love with you for sure. He was extremely close as he helped you get your balance back. You could smell his t-shirt that smelt like it was just freshly washed. 

“You have to hold my hand tightly or I will end up in the emergency tonight,” you half-joked and with a cheeky smile, Jackson took your hand in his strong hand. 

The two of you walked to the ice and finally, it was time to step on. It was Jackson at first and he helped you get on the ice, but at first, it was kind of hard for you. Jackson was holding on to you tightly, so you were not afraid of falling. Still, you wanted to get better at it. He gave you a few tips on your posture and how to bend your knees. For the first few rounds you were holding onto Jackson and the railing, but then after you grasped the technique of it, it became much easier. You were still holding Jackson’s hand but at least you could go a little faster. 

“This is so much fun!” You exclaimed and he let out a soft laugh. He was like a puppy, you came to that conclusion. 

“I’m so glad that you are learning so fast,” he said. 

“Well since I have a great teacher,” you said and he got a bit flustered, which you didn’t think you could make him. 

“What do you think about spinning?” He asked and before you could answer he skated in front of you and held onto both of your hands. He tried to pull you into a spin and it more or less worked. It was great having such a strong guy next to you, you did not worry about anything. Even when kids were circling around you and barely standing on their feet. 

“Be careful guys,” Jackson said to the kids with a huge smile on his face. He even high fived them and after that, they kept on following him and teasing him. 

“The kids love you,” you said with an amazed expression. If Jackson is not husband material then no one is. 

“Ah I think they just like it when someone has a bright and friendly personality,” he shrugged but you could tell that it was feeding into his ego, but he didn’t act up. 

“I’m starting to get cold, should we head in the cafe?” You asked as you could feel your limbs freezing.

“I was about to suggest it as well,” smiled Jackson as he blew some warm air on his hands. 

The two of you skated towards the exit of the rink and it was winter heaven when you finally got back in the waiting area where the cafe was as well. You returned the skates and got your bags from the locker. 

Jackson ordered one iced americano for himself and hot cocoa for you. 

“How can you drink iced americano when we just came from the freezing cold?” You asked him amused and Jackson just giggled. 

“I guess it became a habit and I prefer this to warmer drinks. But you, on the other hand, I’m not surprised that you ordered hot cocoa,” he looked at you softly but for a second you questioned him. 

“Ah what does that mean though? That while you have a tough personality, mine is weak?” You raised your eyebrow but Jackson shook his head. 

“No, you are a warm and sweet person, that’s what it means,” he replied and you could feel your face turning red. You were a bit taken aback with his compliments so you couldn’t really say anything. “I know this might sound cheesy, but it is true. I don’t understand why you haven’t found someone yet. I would feel lucky to have a nice and bright girlfriend like you,” he shrugged, avoiding your gaze. 

“Well, I guess the guys who I met before had a different opinion from you,” you said with a deep sigh. But then Jackson reached out to put his hand on top of yours. 

“With all honesty, I hope you can find the one soon. And if you ever want to hang out with me again to get you more into athletic activities or just to chat in general, I will be here for you,” he said it while looking deeply in your eyes with his large puppy eyes. Your heart started to race like crazy but you managed to put a smile on your face.

“I can’t wait for that,” you said shyly and you felt you should have expressed yourself better. But Jackson liked this answer too, and he gently patted your head. Now your heart definitely was ready to jump out of its place.

After a little bit of chatting and finishing up your drinks, the two of you walked to the bus stop. “Are you taking this too?” You asked and he nodded. 

“I have to get off in three stops and from there I will take the subway. But until then I still have a little time to spend with you,” he explained and you were glad that he didn’t just go on his own way, right away. 

“You know I’m surprised that you signed up to do something like this. You know like a blind date with a stranger,” you said once you found two available seats on the bus. 

“I don’t really have a lot of chances of dating and getting to know people so I thought this might be a good opportunity. And I’m glad I said yes to is as now I had the chance to meeting you,” he said while he looked at you softly. He always knew what words he could make your heart flutter. 

“Well I was scared to start these blind dates, but I’m glad that at least it had a good start,” you replied and Jackson let out a chuckle. 

“I hope this good first date wasn’t the last with me. I wish you look with your other dates and I hope I can hear from you in the near future,” he said as you got closer to his stop. He gave you a big warm hug then he looked like as if he wanted to do or say something else, but then he just smiled at you. “Get home safe,” he said before getting off. 

You waved to him as the bus was leaving and then you just sat there with an empty seat next to you and with an empty heart inside your chest. It was a while ago since you felt so happy out on a date and if you had the chance you would definitely repeat it. 

At home, you just stared blankly at Jackson’s phone number and thinking about the date. He was so kind and protecting towards you. Due to all these sweet thoughts you almost fell asleep but then you heard a beep from your phone. Jackson texted you, “Hope you had a great time because I did for sure :) Sweet dreams~ ps. if any of the others guys in the date become problematic just let me know so I can have a talk with them ;D” You giggled to yourself when you read the text and then you read it over and over again until you fell asleep. 

But then tomorrow another date was waiting for you....

January 3rd. BamBam

January 4th. Mark

Just as BamBam told you last night, Mark wanted to meet you in an outdoor activity. He chose a perfect day for it as it wasn’t that cold like in the previous days, however, you still had to dress warm enough to endure the breeze. Your best friend texted you that Mark is waiting for you by the Han river at noon for lunch. Well, Han river is vast and has many spots where people meet up, but in the following text, she told you that he will be by the convenience store. There weren’t that many stores by the river’s main park so you kind of guessed which one he is talking about. 

It took you only thirty minutes to get there as you took the subway. Since you were on time, you didn’t expect Mark to be there already. You were right about that as he was late by 15 minutes. 

“So sorry for being late,” he said while he was trying to catch his breath. 

“Don’t worry about it, at least it’s not too cold outside today,” you smiled at him which made him feel relieved. 

“Before we go and sit down do you want to get something from the store? I prepared a little food but I don’t think that will be enough,” he said while looking at the bag he had in his hand.

“That’s really nice of you that you brought food,” you said excitedly but then both of you decided to get some snacks and Mark made ramen for himself. 

After you finished with the shopping, you tried to find a nice spot where there weren’t too many people and you got a good view of the river. Thankfully, it was easy to find a place just like that as for many people this weather was still not ideal for a picnic. 

Mark took out a blanket from his backpack, which he laid down on the grass, then he carefully put down the food and a big thermos that you guessed had some warm drink in it. 

“The restaurant is ready, Miss,” he said as he imitated a waiter. This made you giggle and he knew he was on the right track. 

“Wow, did you make all of these?” you asked as you looked at all the gimbap that was in the container. 

“Yes, I did. I also have some warm tea here, so please just take whatever you want,” he replied and without hesitation, you picked up one gimbap and started eating it. The taste was great as he used delicious and fresh ingredients. 

“I would have never thought that in January I’m going to have an outdoor picnic date by the river,” you said as you were still amazed by all the things Mark prepared. 

“We are lucky that the weather is good today. It was made just for the two of us,” he said cheesily which resulted in him bursting into an embarrassing giggle. It was hard for you to not notice how cute he was. 

“In my past dates I haven’t been outside that much so it’s great to get some fresh air and sunshine,” you told him and he suddenly put down his cup of ramen. 

“Oh, this reminds me of. It might sound cheesy or pushing the boundaries, but I think it’s beautiful how the sunlight is shining on you... do you mind if I take a picture of you?” He asked timidly but you shook your head. 

“I don’t mind it, just show it to me. And if I look unacceptable then you have to delete it,” you made him pinky promise it. Then he took out his camera and snapped three pictures of you. After that, he showed you the results and he looked at the pictures with admire in his eyes. “You made me look prettier than I actually am.”

“Ah come on, y/n, I think you are really pretty even without the sun shining down on you,” he replied before you could continue talking down about yourself. “But I gotta admit the rays make you look like even more of an angel.” 

“Well I think between the two of us, you are the angel as you prepared all this stuff for today,” you said and he started to blush. 

“It’s really nothing. I’m just happy that I can spend some time with someone that I’m just getting to know. After a while it gets boring to be with the guys,” he laughed which implied that he loves them regardless, but it’s good to meet new people. “By the way, BamBam couldn’t shut up about you yesterday which wasn’t cool of him as we all promised we are not going to talk about the dates.”

“BamBam seems like that type of person who just can’t keep the words inside him,” you chuckled as you thought about how even on the previous day he kept on dropping information about stuff he wasn’t supposed. 

“Yeah sometimes he can be really annoying, but of course I adore him a lot. He pretty much grew up in front of my eyes and I consider him my little brother, so I really can’t be mad at him,” he smiled softly while he thought about his dongsaeng.  

“That’s great how all of you are so close to each other,” you said and he nodded. 

“I consider myself lucky that I was able to meet these guys. But hey let’s talk more about you. Even though BamBam already shared so much, I feel like there is still a lot for me to learn,” he said with a playful wink and that made your heart beat faster. 

The two of you kept on talking for hours. It was already four pm when you realized it was starting to get a little colder as you were getting closer to the night. 

“I can’t believe that time went by this fast...” sighed Mark as he looked at his watch. You emptied out even the last bit of tea from the thermos. You now had neither food nor any drinks. “But I don’t want to say goodbye yet... there is a basketball court close by and I happen to have a basketball in this magic bag. What do you say?” He asked while he was really hoping for you to stay longer with him. 

“That sounds great!” You said cheerfully and Mark quickly got up to pack up everything while you picked up all the garbage that you didn’t want to leave behind. 

After ten minutes of walking, you arrived at a basketball court. There were barely any people playing as it was still work and school time. Mark took out his basketball from his bag while you got yourself ready for another sports embarrassment. Third time this week. 

“I don’t think that I’m such a good player,” you admitted but Mark shrugged. 

“I don’t consider myself a good player either. But hey, this is not the NBA's, we are just here to have fun so don’t worry,” he said to ease your worrying. 

For almost an hour you kept on playing against each other. At first, each of you had ten chances and to whoever had the least scores, that person had to post an embarrassing picture on social media. Surprisingly that person was Mark. 

“But hey, you didn’t go easy on me, right?” You confronted him but he put his hands up in protest.

“I swear to God you were just simply this good,” he said which made you laugh. Then he proceeded to take one of the ugliest selfies of our time, but still, he managed to look handsome. 

“Wow, how can you look this good even from this angle?” You asked, truly amazed by him. 

“I guess I was just born with it,” he replied while he flipped his non-existent long hair. 

“Okay but this time let’s try to block each other’s attacks,” you suggested and Mark put up a thumbs up. 

“I might hurt you so be prepared,” he said which now sounded a little darker compared to how cute he was a few minuted before. 

“Oh, the real Mark is finally starting to show,” you teased him and he wiggled his eyebrows as an answer and when you were not paying attention, he took the ball from you. When it registered in your brain what just happened, you quickly turned around and started to chase after him. 

“Yaa Mark Tuan!” You yelled but he was just loudly giggling as he was running away and then getting the ball right in the hoop. 

“Next time pay close attention,” he said while he pointed at your eyes with two of his fingers. 

“Okay then what if I get your attention away,” you said, getting closer to him. First, he looked like he cannot be bothered but when you got way too close to him, as only a few centimeters were between your faces, Mark’s hold on the ball got weaker which was the perfect moment to steal it from him. Then you started running towards the other hoop, Mark closely behind you.

“You can’t seduce me like this, it’s not fair!” He shouted but you managed to go all the way to the other side and get the ball in the hoop. 

“I didn’t do anything, you are just imagining things,” you shrugged and Mark rolled his eyes. 

“Nice try, but I won’t give up this easily,” he replied.

For thirty minutes you were playing around like this, chasing, teasing, and laughing at each other. You had such a good time with him that you didn’t even notice how fast time has gone by. 

“I should head home now, it’s really dark outside,” you said as the two of you were sitting on the concrete, feeling exhausted. It was already dark and cold. On the river, you could see the lights reflecting from the city, which made the waves look colorful. 

“I will take you home,” he said and you looked at him questioningly. “I mean I don’t have a car, but I can take the subway with you and walk you home, to make sure you get back safely,” he added and you melted away just by how caring he was. 

“Okay, then let’s go,” you said and the two of you walked to the subway. On the way to your home, you didn’t talk as much as you both felt exhausted. Instead, you were trying to fight off the sleepiness.

Once you got to your house, it almost seemed like as if Mark didn’t want to go home. 

“I really enjoyed my day with you,” he said with a sleepy voice and it just made him even cuter. 

“I had a great time too. Thanks for the food and the tea,” you mentioned again and he just smiled softly at you. Then he suddenly leaned in to plant a kiss on your cheek. When he saw your widened eyes, he realized what he had done just now. The embarrassment was taking over him in form of a tomato red face and sweat forming on his forehead during that cold winter night. 

“I guess I should go, good night!” he said with a higher pitched voiced and he started to back away then he jogged towards the subway station. That was one of the cutest reactions of your life. 

“Good night,” you shouted after him and he suddenly turned back to wave at you with a big smile, then he continued to make his embarrassed home run. 

January 4th. Mark

January 5th. Jinyoung

After yesterday’s exhausting basketball game with Mark, you felt like a zombie when you got out of bed. Your next date, Jinyoung was waiting for you by an art museum at 10 in the morning so you really had no time to feel sorry for yourself and for your aching body. Since it was an indoor date, you risked wearing the dress that BamBam bought especially as he mentioned it’s Jinyoung’s taste. 

Some people might have freaked out if they hear the date is going to be in a museum, as it can get boring. But you were excited as not a lot of people appreciate history and art, especially not from the people who are around your age. Since you felt so tired from last night and a museum visit also consists of a lot of walking, you decided to take a taxi to the museum. You were a few minutes early and for your surprise, Jinyoung was already there. Thanks to BamBam you already knew how he looked like so you couldn’t miss him, though it would have been hard to miss such a dashing guy. 

Jinyoung for sure looked like a handsome actor right out from a romantic movie. The way he was standing there, leaning to the wall, looking down at his phone, made you think he will probably not be as easy going as the other guys were before him. His outfit was preppy and he was just overall picture perfect. All of these observations made you feel even more nervous, so the way you approached him was kind of like as if you were preparing to meet with a shark, that happened to be really handsome.

You stopped in front of him, clearing your throat, in return he quickly looked up from his phone and as you faced him, he took your breath away even more. 

“Jinyoung?” You asked and when he heard his name, he sweetly smiled at you, resulting in all your worries flying away. His smile was so warm, especially how small wrinkles formed around his large round eyes. 

“Yes, so I guess you are y/n,” he said and he extended his hand which you shook. “The guys were right... you are really pretty. And this dress nicely suits you,” he said and was he was blushing a bit. A guy like him? Blushing? Because of you? You couldn’t believe it. 

“Little birds chirped that this dress might be your style,” you said with a smile. Jinyoung nodded, still smiling. 

“Well I would never wear something like this, but you are right,” he chuckled at his own lame joke. Okay, you were definitely not intimidated by him anymore as he had such a lame sense of humor. 

“Oh well, I thought I might let you know where I got this from if you ever wanted to match with me,” you said sarcastically and he laughed out loud. 

“I think we are going to have a great time today,” he said with a relieved sigh.

The two of you walked through the security check and inside the museum you gave your coats in the cloakroom. You took a map of the museum, but Jinyoung seemed to know already where he is going. There was a special exhibition of Claude Monet’s works that was only displayed for a few weeks. It was on the third floor, so you had to climb up large steps and passing by many great exhibitions that were there on a regular basis.

“After we finished here we can try to look around the whole museum. But since it just opened there won’t be that many people at the Monet exhibition yet,” said Jinyoung as he noticed your gaze looking at different rooms with other great artwork. Monet was an extremely popular painter so you could imagine how a huge crowd would form later that day. 

“Do you often go to museums?” You asked him and he shook his head. 

“My time doesn’t allow it that much, but I do like to go to museums. Especially when I’m in a foreign country because that’s one of the best ways to learn about a country’s history and culture,” he said and you could tell he was intelligent and thoughtful. 

“I would like to go to museums more often but there aren’t that many people who would actually come with me. And alone it’s kind of depressing,” you said. 

“I agree with you, alone it’s not as much fun but you have to bring the right person who will appreciate the time spending on artwork and historical artifacts. And I think I just found my new museum partner,” he said with a cheeky smile as he looked at you. This made you blush and not be able to say anything for the next few seconds.

You finally arrived at the Monet exhibition but despite going so early, there were already a lot of people. You got almost pushed away by a group of people who were listening to a tour guide so you grabbed onto Jinyoung’s arm to not lose him in the crowd. This caught him by surprise but when he realized why you grabbed onto his arm, he properly held your hand with his, guiding you through the crowd. 

“This is amazing,” he gasped as you stopped in front of Monet’s Impression, Sunrise painting. “Did you know that this painting was the start of what we call now Impressionist painters?” He asked and you shook your head. “Well since the title says it, Impression, a French critic used this word to describe the style and since then other painters during this time adopted the word,” he explained and the way he talked about these facts made his eyes shine. He was truly fascinated by it and had much knowledge of the subject. 

“I think it looks great, much better than I expected. But definitely smaller than I thought. Like compared to his Water Lilies series, that is just huge,” you said, looking at those paintings displayed in the room. 

“Definitely smaller. Same thing as with Mona Lisa. Though when I checked it out I already knew what to expect but still the feeling of disappointment was in me,” he said while putting his hand on his heart, acting out how it hurt his feelings. You chuckled at his act and after that, he let out an embarrassed laugh. 

“I can’t believe you saw Mona Lisa in real life,” you noted and he shrugged. 

“My job has some benefits, like going to different countries once in a while,” he replied. 

You moved on to the Water Lillies series, which took you some minute to process it all. The two of you were quietly standing next to each other, thinking about the different things that you noticed in the large painting. People, however, kept on bumping into you, which wasn’t that pleasant. Jinyoung noticed that people started to crowd your spot, so in a protective way, he put his arm around your shoulder so people can’t push you aside. This move looked so natural to him as if it was no big deal, but for you and your heart, it was a big deal. You kept on blushing and you no longer had the ability to focus on the painting. When you were busy collecting yourself, Jinyoung took a quick glance at you and how you were affected by his touch and it made him smile.  

After you finished looking at the Monet paintings, you headed down to the museum’s cafe to get some refreshments. Jinyoung, like the gentleman he is, didn’t let you pay any won. When you sat down across each other by a large window, that’s when you noticed how it was pouring outside. 

“Wow, you had your picnic date with Mark hyung just on the right day,” he noted. 

“For sure, I wouldn’t have like to get all wet, but now it doesn’t matter,” you replied. 

“I hope it will stop by the time we finish... I didn’t bring an umbrella,” he sighed and you thought you will probably just take a taxi. “Oh by the way, now that I got reminded of Mark hyung he told me that he failed to ask for your number because he ran away for some reason, so he wants me to give him your number,” he said with a laugh. You started smiling too as you thought about what happened last night. 

“Yes, he felt embarrassed,” you said and Jinyoung shook his head while still smiling. 

“Though now that I think about it, I might keep your number to myself,” he said cheekily and you laughed. 

“Don’t be so sure that I give it to you, the date is not over yet,” you teased him and he took a deep sigh. 

“Okay I will try my best to earn your phone number,” he said and he put his hand on his heart to swear for it.

After you finished eating and drinking in the cafe, you headed to other exhibitions to see what other great items the museum holds. It was surprising how much Jinyoung knew about so many different historical times. He did admit that this great knowledge came from reading so many books and how he just randomly looked up things on the internet. 

You never had such this level of deep conversation with anyone before, and you could just talk to him or listen to him talking for hours. But then everything needs to come to an end. The museum was closing but Jinyoung quickly disappeared in the gift shop and then he came back with a small bag. 

“This is for you, to remember our date,” he said and you took out the gift from the bag which was a handmade bookmark inspired by Monet’s Water Lillies. 

“Thank you, this is lovely,” you said while you examined the thin but beautiful bookmark. 

“I’m glad you like it,” he said as he patted your head, making your heart skip a beat once again. You could tell he enjoyed making your heart flutter. 

When you got outside, it was still raining heavily. Jinyoung took off his coat and put it above both of you, telling you to get closer to him. As he shielded you from the rain, waiting to catch a taxi, you noticed a Japanese restaurant on the other side of the road.

“Don’t you want to have dinner with me, there?” You asked and a smile appeared on his face.

“I thought you’ll never ask,” he said with a chuckle and you giggled at his response. 

You had sushi while drinking wine and you told him a lot of things about yourself, mainly about your childhood. He seemed to be in a nostalgic mood as he listened closely to your words while he was also excited to share stories from his childhood. 

After that, you took a taxi together. You felt the wine going in your head so you felt a little drowsy. You ended up putting your head on Jinyoung’s broad shoulder and he didn’t mind it at all.

When you arrived at your house, Jinyoung asked for the taxi driver to wait for him. You were standing in the rain but he still asked for your number. 

“Hm, I’m not too sure if I should give it to you..” you said acting hesitant to tease him. 

“Do you want me to get on my knees and beg?” He asked and you shook your head.

“Here, but I hope you are not only asking for it to give it to Mark.”

“Well if I will give it to him... I need to think about that,” he laughed. Then when he realized he made the driver wait too long, he held out his arms to embrace you in a tight hug. You never felt such a warm and sincere hug before. It was truly healing. In the meantime, Jinyoung gave a kiss on the top of your head, then he went back to the taxi. You waved to each other until the car was completely out of sight. 

A/N: Trying to get writing again. This is what inspired tonight. Enjoy.

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Synopsis: AU - An overworked Barry Allen doesn't expect to meet the love of his life on a much-needed vacation to Hawaii. He expects even less the secret even she doesn't know she's hiding.

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Chapter 1 -

for everyone who’s been waiting, here’s a bit of a peek. i’ve already planned every chapter (the ones that haven’t been posted), now all i need to do is write them before publishing on wattpad soon.