It did not turn out okay.
Minho and I had a great time on the bus. We edited and curated an album of all the pictures I'd clicked here up until now, shared and listened to our playlists. The difference in our music tastes was jarring, but that's also what made our mixed playlist so refreshing.
Then we arrived at our destination and the boys and girls were asked to pair up for the living situation, separately. Naturally Kitty and I gravitated toward each other, but before either of us could voice our very obvious choice, Yuri addressed firmly that she would be bunking with my best friend.
No matter how much we asked, she stuck to her decision like glue. Not only that, her stubbornness was polite, and politeness was a trait I respected. That's how I ended up pairing with Madison instead.
The rooming situation, much like our dorm, was much larger compared to others with KISS aiming to please her family with this trip, but it didn't make up for the fact that I didn't get to be with Kitty like I'd hoped.
Minho's hand waving in front of my face brought me back.
"Are you going to keep making that sad face?"
I turned my head to face him. "I can't help it. I thought coming to KISS would be a bonding experience for us, but Kitty and I are further apart than we've ever been."
"You'd think being away from that would bring you joy," he remarked with raised eyebrows and retreated back when I reprimanded him the only way I knew.
"Don't refer to her like that."
"Only if you stop pouting." I put a hand on my lips and it seemed that I'd been unintentionally doing it. Minho looked closely as I set them right, before suddenly shaking his head. "You know what? Let's call my mom."
"Your mom?"
"That's why I came here in the first place." He pulled his phone out and clicked on her contact.
"I should leave then." I was supposed to go back soon anyway since Madison and I planned on watching Tune In For Love tonight.
Minho stopped me as I got up to walk out of the bus. "No, I want you here. It'll cheer you up and mom would love to see you too."
"Hello, my son." The voice came from Minho's phone. His mom had picked up the call.
He gestured for me to sit down as he looked at her with a bright smile, lit up in the dark of the bus by the warm light of his phone screen. "Oh, hi, mom."
"I thought you said you were camping?" The sweet voice asked.
"Yeah, but there's no wifi in our tents." He looked at me enviously. "Or at least in mine."
"Oh, who's there?" I smoothed down my hair as Minho brought me in frame as well. "Is this Flora, the girl you've been talking about so much?"
He nodded cutely. "Yes."
"Hi," his mom greeted with a beautiful smile when I finally gained the courage to look directly at her. "I'm Minho's mom, Dami."
"Hello, ma'am," I greeted with a bow as was respectful even if she probably couldn't see me that well due to the darkness on our side.
"I don't think you have to do all that," Minho whispered.
"I want to," I whispered back before returning my attention to his mother. "It's nice to finally talk to you. Minho brags about you a lot."
She looked at us happily and told me, "He does the same with you. In fact, every time I've talked to him lately he manages to bring you up somehow." Her son shook his head as she went on. "Flora and I went here. Flora and I went there. Flora and I were—"
"Mom!" he exclaimed, cutting her off. It was quite rude even if he didn't mean to be.
"You shouldn't interrupt your mom like that." I gave him a pat and he acted exaggeratedly to how much it hurt.
His mom awwed. "The way you speak is so polite. And you," she said to Minho, "she barely hit you. Take it like a man."
"It might not have hurt my arm, but it hurt my heart. How can you take her side over your own son's?"
"Like this. Flora," she addressed me and I paid attention. "You're a great girl from what I've heard and seen, so if my son's acting up and giving you a hard time, call me."
I smiled at her as Minho looked at us open mouthed. They were indeed mother and son. "I trust him not to do that, but in case he is giving me a hard time, I'll remember what you said."
"You're smart," he pointed at me with an impressed look, "appeasing me and my mom at once."
"She has to be smart to be around you," his mom said at the same time my phone rang.
"It's Madison. I have to go," I told Minho and he nodded in understanding.
"At least one of us has a wifi signal at hand, so you should make good use of it."
"It was lovely to meet you, mother." I used the formal version that was supposed to be used with friends' moms and she clapped.
"You too. And that sounds so much better than ma'am. Keep using it."
"See you in the morning," Minho called as he held the phone toward me so his mom could wave at me. I waved back at both of them as I left. "Now what did you mean by she has to be smart to...?"
Minho's words faded as I left the area and I couldn't help but feel a longing to talk to my mom too after seeing him talk to his so happily. My stay at grandma's, the party, confessing to Minho. There was so much I wanted to talk to her about that my constant studying had made me push back on. I pulled out my phone as I walked back to Madison and I's tent.
"Hi, mom. I miss you."
===
"I thought I'd be seeing your ghost today with how scary the thought of bunking with Yuri was."
"You're joking." Kitty looked at me in surprise. "Things must be going well with Meanhoe."
I gave her a push for her dig. "Don't call him that."
"He calls me sasaeng!"
"And I defend you every time that he does. We've known each other longer, at least you should listen to me."
"Why did I have to match you guys at the airport?" She shook her head while sighing. "Now you two are meant to be."
"What about you and Daeheon? Did you talk to him yet?" I asked her.
"Oh, we talked." This topic had her all fired up. "He asked me how he could make it up to me and I told him that the old him would've figured it out on his own." I nodded somberly as she ran a hand through her hair. "The two of us are a mess because he hid the fact that he was in a relationship when I thought we were something. It hurt when I came here with the hopes of finally being with him and then Dae—"
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Refused to face you at all and pushed you away for the smallest things?"
She plucked my hand off her shoulder precariously and walked ahead, turning around as she explained, "It made me question whether he was the same boy I met all those years ago."
"How can you expect him to be the same when it's been years since the day you met?" I asked as I caught up and took a hold of her hand. "That's the beauty of the two of you, Kitty. Years have passed by, and even thousands of miles apart, you and Daeheon have grown together. He was one of the big reasons for you wanting to come to KISS, so give him the time to set things right."
"And what if it's too late? What if the time to set things right has already passed?"
"Then Daeheon isn't the only reason for you to stay."
Kitty jumped suddenly and looked at me suspiciously. "What's made you so sappy all of a sudden?"
"Madison and I watched Tune In For Love last night," I provided as justification. "At the moment, my belief in love is stronger than ever. So if you are distancing yourself from Daeheon or your new found feelings for Yuri are because he's different than how he used to be, maybe try to get to know the new him."
She blinked at me before stomping away, shouting, "I don't like this switcheroo! Make me the matchmaker again!"
"This is only temporary. Kitty!"
===
"There's a twig stuck in your hair. Let me get it out," Minho offered helpfully since my arms were full of dried branches I was about to dump in the bag he held.
"Thank you," I said with a grateful smile as he pulled it. I wondered how it had gotten there when all the remaining trees that stood in the vicinity looked strong and healthy.
"You're welcome," he said as he patted my hair down.
Daeheon cringed as he looked at us. "What are you thanking him for? He's the one who put it there."
"Really?" I dumped the branches in the bag.
Minho looked at our friend. "Why don't you focus on your raking? We're trying to do a good deed here."
Daeheon scoffed as he went back to his work. "Understood, Mr. Do-gooder."
"I didn't put it there," Minho said, following me around as I collected more dried leaves.
"I don't mind." I dumped the next armful in the bag, unable to look directly at him since I was blushing. "It was cute."
"Just cute has you hiding away?" He bent down to look into my eyes. "Then I'm worried you might turn invisible on our date this evening, because I plan for it to be super ultimate cute."
"Super ultimate cute?" I repeated, wanting to burst out in a laugh. "Is it a Korean first date thing I'm unaware of?"
He nodded like an all-knowing sage. "It's the kind of first date where one plans to sweep their date right off their feet, so that they can't ever experience another first date like that. It will ruin any and all possibility of you ever looking another man's way."
"What if it's a girl?" I asked, Kitty's sudden fascination with Yuri coming to mind.
"Who?"
"What if the other person I look at is a girl instead?"
Minho was taken aback as one would be, but he recovered fairly quickly. "Then my biggest issue will be, why are you already thinking of looking at another person when we've yet to go on our first date?" His finger hovered over my face in a circular motion and he asked innocently, "Behind that innocent mask, are you secretly a player, Florence Mun Acosta?"
"I'm not," I denied. "I've never even been in a relationship before."
He made a show of covering his mouth in shock as his eyes widened. "So you don't even get serious with people? How scandalous."
"There are no people," I said, looking back at him from my work of picking the litter up. "I've only gone on eight dates before, and only two were with the same person."
"I know. He's my roommate." I saw him adjust non existent glasses on his face before pointing an invisible microphone at me. "Is that your plan, Miss Mun Acosta? Are you a serial dater who plans to date all the boys in dorm 122?"
Maybe I wouldn't have caught on with someone else, but I knew that Minho was playing a game. I trusted my ability to read him. I trusted him. One half of me might be Latina, but the other was very much Asian. Maybe it was a bit stereotypical of me to mention that to make a point with this, but I couldn't let him one up me.
I dumped my last load of litter in the bag and answered the questions of his interrogation with a mischievous smile I'd learnt from constantly observing Kitty.
"No. Unfortunately, Q's gay."
The full bag slipped from his hands and landed on the ground with a dull thud as Minho grabbed at his heart, and looked at me with a pained expression on his face.
"Bangtan Sonyeondan was right. It's all fake love."
"You started it!"
===
"Welcome to the end of being just friends," Minho flourished his arm toward the tent, "because I'm certain that in the next few hours, we'll be more."
I had no doubt about it, and not just because I truly liked Minho a lot. It was how carefully he'd incorporated the little things I'd mentioned in all the time we've spent together. From using the exact aromatic candles I'd once said I liked, to the floral arrangement on the little table that was set in the center for our dinner, my eyes lingered on the individual pieces. I was afraid if I looked at the whole, I wouldn't be able to handle it and do something stupid and unlike me.
I didn't know it felt this strange to like someone, or at least if I'd felt it before, I couldn't remember.
"How do you like it? I placed every little thing with my own hands."
"It's magnificent," I complimented the set up. It appeared as if it had been plucked straight out of a magazine. "I don't want to touch anything in fear that I might ruin it."
"Well, that can't fly." He moved the basket of sparkling cider on the table to be off center. While it didn't take away from the appeal of everything, the miniscule error was still fairly easy to spot since it took place right in front of my eyes. "Not so picture perfect anymore. Step in, please."
He held out a hand that I gladly took, and pulled me into the warm shade of the tent.
"Even though I said this already today, let me tell you again, you look incredible," he said once he was finally sitting in front of me, smiling with his chin resting on both hands.
"Thank you. I want to compliment you as well, but you are as charming as you are everyday."
It was a shame I had nothing unique to say to him. Minho was as gentlemanly as usual when he pulled out my chair just a moment ago, and as dashing in a suit as in a pair of pajamas.
"You don't think that's a compliment in itself?" I shook my head no and he laughed. "I know how fussy I am, and that you think otherwise is a relief."
"I don't think otherwise." He brought his head closer, nodding for me to go on. "You are fussy, but it's part of why I find you charming. Your fastidious ways speak to me."
Minho let out a happy sigh. "Should we start off with dinner?"
With an agreement from me, we dug into what I pleasantly discovered to be a very authentic seafood paella. My mind took a while, but two jumbo shrimps later, I remembered the exact moment I'd told Minho that it'd been a while since I had seafood, and that I was planning to gorge on it the moment we got a break from school again. He'd made something happen that I'd almost forgotten about myself.
As always, Minho had much to say and much to ask. Even when we'd spent so much time together ever since my arrival at KISS, he had somehow managed to find so many more questions for me this evening. The slight worry I'd carried in my heart since morning that our date might be awkward ebbed away, as things flowed so seamlessly I didn't even realize when our food vanished from our plates, or when the bottle of sparkling cider emptied of its last drop.
"The sky's much better here, isn't it?" Minho asked as he squashed my little s'more between two graham crackers.
"Hmm," I agreed as I took a bite. "You can see the moon much clearer now. Venus too."
"Is it that one?" He pointed his stick at the wrong celestial body.
"That's Regulus, the brightest star of the Leo constellation. They're hosting our moon this week."
A familiar flower suddenly blocked my vision of the clear moon tonight. I plucked it from the hand that held it and looked at Minho's face. The sky really had taken my attention away for a while because my date appeared quite scattered. Perhaps not physically, but his eyes betrayed nervousness. It must be a lot since I was able to tell.
"Would you be my girlfriend?" he asked lowly.
"Yes." I looked at the candytuft in my hands that was a striking shade of pink it wasn't usually found in, then back up at his shining eyes. "May I kiss you?"
Bathed in the warm glow cast by the medley of candles and fairy lights, for the first time I saw Minho turn red. Shy or embarrassed or nervous, however he felt in the moment didn't stop him from bringing his hands forward to frame my face and leaning into me until our noses touched.
"Are you sure you're not a serial dater?"
Our lips touched when I smiled.
=====
i did not think i'd be able to release this one on time so a pat on the back for me. seriously, a comment or two would be great. i feel like a spirit who's desperately trying to make contact with the mortal world, and failing each time these little notes of mine go unanswered. anyway, have a great week y'all, and see you next weekend!