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“You need to get out there more,” my best friend, Alice, whines from the seat on the couch next to mine. I shake my head at her antics knowing where we will end up going and knowing I want to be nowhere near wherever that is. No matter how much I love her, public outings, no matter how fun were draining and not worth it in the end for me. I ignore her comment, keeping my focus on my book and just as it’s getting to the good part she rips it away from my hands.
“Are you serious?” I deadpan at her as she shrugs and puts the book the side farthest away from me. I roll my eyes feeling her hands holding mine knowing what’s about to happen.
“Come on, Y/n! Just this once!” She pleads with me but I refuse to look her in the eyes knowing she’s going to use her puppy dog eyes on me. Not again. It’s fine, you just have to avoid eye contact. But her hands move to cup my face which force me to look her in the eyes towards my one weakness that she uses to her advantage.
“Pretty please! I promise I won’t make you go to another public outing the rest of the summer if you go to this one,” she begs with the subtle strategic deal included.
I groan, feeling swayed by her promise of not begging me to go on another public outing for the rest of the summer. It is really tempting. Being that it’s only June that leaves me safe for both July and August to do whatever I want without her whining to try to make me go out with her unless I truly wanted to. Sounds good to me plus mom mentioned she wanted me to go out at least once this summer. It’s a win-win scenario.
“Fine-”
“Yes!” She squeals and jumps off the coach with a large grin before turning to me, “I promise we will have so much tonight!”
“Yeah, whatever,” I say with a soft smile and let her begin dragging me around the house in order to get ready for whatever it was that she wanted to do tonight.
******
“Isn’t it so cute?” Alice says with a bright grin gesturing to the large bonfire that’s set up in the middle of the beach. Logs surround the bonfire that are half covered in sand while to the right side there was a volleyball net that stands tall for those who were willing to torture their body playing volleyball. I look closer to see there is already a group playing volleyball and I internally sigh in relief knowing I won’t have to play. Yeah, definitely will not be doing that. On the other side of the bonfire is a small table set up with snacks and bags upon bags of marshmallows. But I definitely will partake in those marshmallows at some point.
“Yes, it’s very cute,” I say with a small smile, happy this wasn’t the large party filled to the brim with people that I had been expecting knowing how Alice enjoys those often.
“Don’t just stand there! Let’s go!” She squeals in excitement, taking my hand and dragging me towards the large bonfire. I chuckle at her excitement and let her pull me off towards wherever she had taking me in mind. Maybe this night won’t be so bad.
******
I stare at the large flame in the center of the bonfire feeling at peace. Alice is off somewhere probably making some new friends that she will bring over to me to try and introduce us. The gesture is sweet but more times than not most people were not interested in engaging in any conversation outside of their one’s with Alice. The crackling of the fire warms my heart and distracts my mind from lingering longer on the unnecessary thoughts.
“It’s nice, huh?” a soft voice says beside me.
I hum quietly in reply just enjoying the sight of the fire before my brain registers that Alice is off somewhere with other people. I glance to my side to see a tall guy sitting beside me with platinum blonde hair that looks so soft, I want to touch it. His facial features are gentle with no harsh curves or lines to them and a small smile rests on his lips as he gazes at the bonfire. The sparks erupting from it reflect against his dark brown eyes. Woah.
I look away after realizing I was literally checking him out, hoping that I didn’t end up staring at him for too long or make him feel awkward. I don’t think I’ve ever checked a guy out before. He’s so handsome. I can’t help it when my eyes drift away from the bonfire to look at him again just one more time before quickly focusing back on the bonfire, not wanting to be rude.
“Is that your friend over there?” He asks with a chuckle, making me glance towards the direction he’s pointing at to see Alice laughing loudly with another guy who is laughing just as loud. Oh, so he just came over here to ask about Alice. I should have guessed.
“Yeah that’s Alice for you,” I awkwardly chuckled, feeling dumb for thinking he was over here for another reason, “did you want me to introduce you two?”
“What? Oh, no,” he immediately rejects, “I was just about to say that her and Beomgyu seem to be hitting it off quite well.” So he’s not here in order to talk to Alice, so why is he here?
“That they are,” I say with a soft smile seeing my best friend enjoying herself so much.
A comfortable silence envelopes us after the short conversation. The both of us just sitting on the log and observing the atmosphere around us. It wasn’t until the guy’s shoulder nudged mine did I notice how close we were to each other. When did he get so close? I feel my cheeks heat up not having realized just how close he had been this entire time. Or has he been moving closer? If I moved my head slightly then I’d be lying my head against his arm. What are you thinking?
I shake the idea away and find myself more flustered from thinking about doing such a thing. I try to not linger on the thought and it doesn’t take long to get my mind off of him. My eyes fall upon the few people nearby that are holding their marshmallows on sticks over the bonfire. That’s right, there’s marshmallows. I still want to do that.
“Do you want to roast some marshmallows with me?” the handsome blonde guy asks and I can’t seem to find the right words to say when looking at his sweet smile. I’d normally reject a request from a stranger, so why do I suddenly want to accept it this time?
“Obviously, it’s fine if you don’t want to-”
“Sure,” I say softly, finding the words falling right out of my mouth before my brain can process it. Just what is this guy doing to me?
He smiles cutely getting up from the wooden log the both of us have been sitting on. He turns to me and reaches out his hand towards me, gesturing for me to take it. I stare at his hand feeling my heart skip a beat at the action but find myself gently placing my hand in his. What is happening to me? I can feel my face burning from the single action that others would regard as nothing. I’ve never felt such an attraction to someone before and he certainly wasn’t making it easy by making all these sweet gestures. Although I glance up to him to see a faint redness on his ears and can’t help the small giggle that escapes me, finding it cute. Is he blushing?
“What’s so funny?” He asks with wide eyes that make him even cuter if that was possible.
“Nothing, nothing,” I say, not feeling confident enough to say what was on my mind and chuckle awkwardly instead. He quirks an eyebrow at me curious as to what was on my mind but I waved off his unspoken words knowing that my thoughts were silly ones anyways.
“You know,” he starts glancing towards me before looking away, “it’d be nice if I could know your name.”
I feel heat rise to my cheeks in embarrassment not having realized we hadn’t exchanged names yet, “I- uh, I’m Y/n.”
“I’m Soobin,” he replies, giving a soft squeeze to my hand which made my eyes immediately dart to our hands, that I forgot were together. Has he been holding my hand this whole time? How did I forget? Maybe because his hand fits so well together with mine. I manage to distract my mind from those thoughts by finally reaching the table full of sweets. Only then does Soobin let go of my hand to get what he wanted. But I can’t help the lingering thought in the back of mind wishing he had held it a bit longer.
Shaking the stupid idea away, I pick up my own marshmallow skewer and place two marshmallows on it. I look to my side only to see Soobin squinting and scrunching his nose up cutely making a decision on something, what that was I had no idea. But I didn’t mind waiting for him to make his decision since he looked so adorable doing it.
“How many marshmallows did you get?” He questions glancing over towards me. I try to form words in my mind but it’s in shambles with his gaze looking directly at me. I felt a blush creeping up again on my cheeks and quickly gestured to my skewer with two marshmallows. My lack of words from being so flustered by his simple heart fluttering actions. Why did he have to look me directly in the eye? But why was I so flustered by it? Can’t I just be normal?
I didn’t have time to think about it further when he appears in front of me with his own skewer that also has two marshmallows now, “look! We’re matching skewers now!”
“I guess so,” I say softly with a chuckle, still flustered from earlier but the adorable grin on his face is what makes my heart melt.
“Shall we?” He asks, holding his arm like a suitor in one of those princess films and I can’t lie, it made my heart flutter. I nod, looping my arm through his without hesitation and head with him towards the bonfire once again.
“Y/n!” Alice yells out waving her hand towards me before her face turns into one of surprise. She glances between me and Soobin with a giant grin on her face sending me a thumbs up that wasn’t subtle at all. Oh boy. I shy away from my best friend who has successfully managed to embarrass me in front of the first boy I’ve seemed to take interest in.
The soft chuckle from beside me takes me out of my spiraling state of embarrassment and I glance up to see Soobin staring down at me with a sweet smile, “marshmallow time?”
“Marshmallow time,” I reply with a shy grin as we stand only a few feet from the bonfire. We clink our skewers as if it were a way to ‘cheers’ like at a meal but with marshmallows instead.
The crackle of the fire with the sounds of people chatting in the background filled the comfortable silence between Soobin and I. Our marshmallow skewers hover over the fire in order to get a nice char to them. I watch intently as the edges of the marshmallow begin to turn a golden brown that makes a smile appear on my face, excited to eat it. But a sudden arm wrapping around my shoulder causes me to lose my grip on the skewer. It immediately falls into the pit of fire and turns to a crisp, completely unretrievable. A pout pulls at my lips seeing the once edible marshmallow turn into a burnt up shrivel of what once was marshmallow.
“Oh my- I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,” Soobin rambles, feeling heat rising to his ears in embarrassment, “I was trying to- that’s not what I meant to happen from doing that.”
Heat rises to my own cheeks at his small confession of flirting with me in a way, “uh- it’s alright. Please don’t worry about it.”
I wave off his worries but my eyes can’t help but stare longingly at the marshmallow as I was so excited for it. But when I turn my gaze to Soobin his face lights up before moving his skewer towards me, “how about we share? It’s the least I can do.”
My heart skips a beat as my mind wanders to the possibility of him feeding me but I quickly shake the thought away, “if it’s okay with you-”
“Yes!” He says with a giant grin feeling proud of himself for this solution he came up with and I couldn’t help but smile right back at him. His happiness is so contagious.
Soobin carefully grabs one of the marshmallows and gently blows on it. He leans down when putting it in my hand and I feel myself grow flustered as he comes closer.
“Careful,” he whispers right next to my ear, sending a shiver down my spine from how close he is, “it might be hot.”
I can only give him a nod in reply feeling too flustered to form any words in response to his warning. Luckily for my heart he moves back a few inches to eat his own marshmallow. I don’t waste any time and pop mine into my mouth, melting at the gooey texture. The sweet taste with the slight char adding just the right touch. Could this marshmallow be any more perfect?
I couldn’t help but think of Soobin when thinking of perfect. Even from just this small meeting, I feel a strong connection with him and want to explore that. I find my eyes trailing back up to him only to find him already staring at me. I divert my eyes quickly with the feeling of butterflies flying around in my stomach erupting from the simple eye contact. He really has me wrapped around his finger, this guy. Just what is he doing to me and my heart?
“Was it good?” He questions intertwining his hand in mine again and it left something like a pleasant tingling throughout my entire body. I just feel giddy.
“Absolutely perfect,” I mutter back as he chuckles with a cute grin and eyes I wish I could stare into forever.
******
Soobin and I couldn’t seem to help but to share small conversations of interests, hobbies, passions, etc. when returning to the log by the fire. I was so enthralled by him that I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until Alice brought me back to reality, “Y/n! It’s already midnight! We need to get going.”
“Midnight?” I gasp out and look at my watch to see what Alice was saying is true. Where did all the time go? It’s going to be time for curfew soon.
I turn to Soobin, a feeling of disappointment bubbles up in me, sad that our time together has to come to an end, “I’m sorry, but I really have to go.”
I start to walk away from him towards Alice feeling my heart begin to ache at the thought of not seeing him again but his hand grabbing mine stops me.
“Wait!” He says and quickly turns me to face him as he wears a shy grin, “could I at least get your number? I want to keep talking to you.” Me? He wants my number? I don't think a guy has ever asked for my number. My face heats up feeling completely flustered, not expecting this outcome especially when I thought coming out tonight would be such an annoyance.
I nod my head and take out my phone, opening my contacts so he can put his number in. He grins widely at this and puts in his number excitedly before calling himself with my phone to get my number, “thank you.”
“I guess then,” I start with a shy grin, “I’ll see you soon?”
“Very soon,” Soobin says, giving me a wink, letting go of my hand trapped in his. My face heats up from the simple action and I nod once again not knowing what else to say. I quickly turn around taking my leave but can’t help glancing back once or twice to see Soobin standing there so cutely, waving goodbye.
But Alice dragging me towards the car grabs my attention fully, “girl! You have to tell me everything! Down to the last detail-”
“It’s not that big a deal, nothing really happened,” I cut her off with a roll of my eyes but her hands squish my face together making me whine.
“Cut the crap. I need to know everything. Every. Single. Detail,” she states with a small glare that makes my chuckle, swatting her hands away from my face.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you want,” I say chuckling but the grin on her face shows how excited she is to hear about it, “But you have to tell me about Beomgyu too then!”
“I was going to anyway! Whether you liked it or not,” She exclaims triumphantly, making me laugh.
I guess it wasn’t so bad going out tonight.