━━ "it was your birthday yesterday?" the blonde boy asked.
it was the end of the school day and he had run to catch up with her, to get out of school together.
"hm? oh yea, haha." miyu trailed off awkwardly, knowing he had probably heard the conversation of hers and eunhyeoks.
the boy frowned. "why didn't you tell me?"
"i didnt think i'd have to tell people when my birthday is. . ."
he nodded, knowing she is right. he got caught up in the moment and couldn't get over the fact that she told eunhyeok about it and not him.
"well then let me make this day amazing for you since i couldn't do it yesterday."
"dohwa you dont have to go this far, really."
he shook his head no and grinned playfully.
"let's go, we'll go to a cat café!"
miyu's face turned excited, as she jumped up and down.
"really?!" he nodded as he laughed and took the girls hand in his, leading her towards the place he is familiar with.
━━
"look, dohwa!" miyu smiled happily as she patted the cat. the boy was laughing at how excited she looked.
they soon started to order and both got some casual iced coffee.
an hour was spent at the café before they decided to leave and head to the next place dohwa was taking the girl to.
a book store.
miyu loved books, romance novels were by far her favourites.
she entered the shop even more excited than before.
"how did you know, i liked books?" she questioned with a smile.
dohwa admired her face, "i might've or might've not looked through your instagram account. . ." he scratched his neck embarrassed with a hint of red on his cheeks.
the girl chuckled and began exploring the rows of books, she ended up finding three books she saw online which were also on her reading list.
dohwa insisted on paying after having waited patiently for her to find the ones she wanted, admiring her every move.
it was a win-win situation, he got to watch miyu and she got to be happy.
as they exited the shop, dohwa took one of the books out of her hands with a smirk.
miyu looked at him confused.
"i am gonna read this one first, we can talk about the plot together later on, hm?" he stared into her beautiful eyes.
she couldn't hide her blushing face by any means.
her heart was beating as fast as it could.
'what are you doing to me. . .'
she nodded, not trusting her mouth.
the boy clicked his tongue in satesfaction, before smiling and leading the way again.
they stopped at a cake store.
he had pre-ordered a chocolate cake, a cake you could never go wrong with!
they picked up the cake and started walking towards miyu's home together.
and miyu was nervous. taking a boy home for the first time ever was big.
and dohwa wasn't alright either. his heart was going crazy as they walked side by side.
his eyes turned really wide when some men in suits in front of a big gate bowed to miyu before opening the large doors.
"wow. . ." he mumbled as they made their way towards the front door of the huge house.
they passed the garden, making the young boy stare in amazement.
miyu chuckled fondly at the boy.
'cute' she thought.
she opened the black doors and the two were instantly greeted by the scent of lavender.
she smiled waiting for dohwa to enter.
she could see he was really panicing.
the two approached the living room of the house and there mina and her one and only grandma were sat at.
her grandma looked at the handsome boy stunned as mina smirked at the girl teasingly, making kissy faces.
'this brat. . .' miyu thought.
"grandma, mina this is baek dohwa. dohwa these are my grandma and my little sister, mina."
dohwa bowed politely with a charming smile as the other two stood up.
"hello, its nice to meet you." he said.
miyu's grandma put a hand on dohwa's shoulder.
"wow~ you're really handsome and polite, good job miyu!"
miyu facepalmed herself as dohwa continued to smile, but now in a more playful way.
now it was mina's turn, "so. . . you like my sister?" she asked.
miyu immediately coughed, as her grandma stiffeled a laugh.
dohwa was enjoying it though, he was rather amused.
"mhm, i do━"
"YES. it's good that you got to know each other! alright, let's go dohwa!"
miyu smiled awkwardly, grabbing dohwa's wrist and pulling him upstairs with her.
she closed the door behind her, looking deadpan at a laughing dohwa.
"i like your family." he said calming down, putting the bag with the cake down.
"i'm glad you didn't take their comments to heart." miyu chuckled nervously.
she plopped down on her bed as dohwa looked around her room, specifically at the framed pictures.
it was turning dark outside now.
the boy noticed that there were only pictures with the two people he had met downstairs. no sign of her parents.
"where are your parents at?" he asked looking back at her.
her body stiffened up. and he noticed this.
"oh uhm━ i don't really know either. . ."
he was slightly confused at the answer and sat down on her bed now too.
"what do you mean?"
"well, its been like a year or something since i have last seen them. that's how i managed to convince them sending me and mina back here. we were previously living alone in the usa. i am happy to be here with my grandma though."
miyu didn't feel any pressure. she didn't feel like she had to hide from the boy. he was listening patiently, just like he always did for her.
she felt comfortable with possibly telling him things no one else knows about.
"do you miss them?" he asked with gentle eyes.
"no i dont. but my little sister does. that's the only reason i am still holding onto them. i am okay with never seeing them again. they don't care about us. i am sure they don't, because they act like we don't exist. we have to be perfect, to get acknowledged."
"you don't have to be perfect with me, miyu." he started, looking deep into her eyes.
"you dont have to be perfect to be loved. and certainly not for assholes like those."
miyu chuckled, "i'll get disowned if i am not perfect."
"that's just something parents say━"
"no. i wish it was that simple. i wish i had parents that arent fucking psychopaths. but i do know exactly what will happen if i don't meet their standards. i know its hard to understand me because i look spoiled and all that shit, but━"
"you aren't at fault, miyu. i might not understand, but i know that you're in pain. you haven't told anyone about this, hm?"
she shook her head no as she was looking down.
"you're perfect in my eyes already." he stood up to grab the cake.
lightening up two candles, he sat back in front of her on the bed.
"blow it out and wish!"
miyu smiled and closed her eyes shut, thinking about her wish briefly before opening her eyes again.
she blows the candle out with a grin as dohwa claps.
he puts the cake down on the bed in between them and grabs the girls hand.
miyu's heart starts beating fast.
he brings her hand up to his lips and kisses it gently, as he pulls away, he leans in closer.
only a few inches away from each others faces now, he cups her face.
"i'll protect you from them."