[6:00 pm]
Word spread around fast throughout the dance group that Yeonjun and Riley were together. Some weren't as supportive, a few were really nice about it and others just didn't seem to care as much. Riley's new friend Mia was all on board with it. She's over Riley's apartment, helping her pick out a dress to wear to her dinner date with her now new boyfriend.
"Is this a casual date or this a fancy date?" Mia asks Riley as she's standing in front of her dresser, looking at all the nice tops she brought. "I think this a casual date? I'm not sure. I hope it is, I didn't bring that much fancy clothing," she tells Mia as she places the tops she has in her hands on the bed. Her phone makes a ding noise, "Can you check that for me please?" Riley asks Mia. Mia rolls over in Riley's bed, grabbing her phone that's across from her. "It's a group text, from someone named Jade and Amanda."
Riley looks over at Mia, smiling widely. "Oh, those are my best friends back home! What did they say?" Riley asks. Mia then reads the messages out loud
Jade: So you and Yeonjun finally got together huh?
Amanda: It was about time woman
Jade: Can you see if any of this friends are single and want an American girlfriend too?
Riley laughs as she hears Jade's text. "That is literally something I would say too," Mia says. "You two would get along great then," Riley tells her, "Facetime them, they're so wonderful. I know they're gonna love you." Mia group facetimes the girls, handing Riley her phone back. She sets it down on her dresser as Mia stands behind her.
"Riley Page!!" Amanda says as Jade pops up from her. "Baby girl! Hi, oh my gosh, we miss you so much," Jade says. "Hi my loves, I miss you both too! I want you to meet someone, this is Mia. She's one of the dancers, she's helping me pick out an outfit for my date tonight," Riley says. Mia waves, as she introduces herself to the girls. Amanda and Jade introduce themselves as well while Riley steps over to the side, letting them talk for a while.
"I don't mean to intervene here, but do y'all know who this Lena chick is too? Because she's here and she's apart of the group," Mia tells Amanda and Jade. They both nod their heads as Riley folds and put away the clothes she knows she's not gonna wear tonight. "All four of us used to be best friends. She was the one who introduced me to my ex actually," Riley says as Mia looks over at her. "She was the one who introduced you to him and she still went behind your back and slept with him?" Mia asks Riley. She nods her head as Amanda speaks up, "It was real fucked up to say the least. She tried to make a lot of excuses saying he came onto her. But regardless, if you know he's dating your best friend, why would you let him continue on? Why didn't you speak up and say something? Why didn't you stop him and call her and say 'Hey, your man just tried to make a move on me'" Riley hums in response, raising her hand up, "Amen to that. Everything about the situation was real shady."
A ding goes off, Riley goes to Mia, "Was that my me?" she asks. Mia nods her head as Riley grabs her phone. She checks her notifications, it was Yeonjun. She squeals, "Hold on girls, my man just texted me. Which is weird, cause I thought he was in a meeting now." Amanda and Jade both giggle, "Your man, wow. And to think just a few days ago, you were telling us that he was never gonna be your man. He was your boss," Jade says, making Mia laugh afterwards.
Riley reads the text message she received
Junnie: Baby girl, I got out early!! I'm going to shower and change and I will be over in 30 minutes. I can't wait to see your beautiful face, I love you. I'll see you very soon
"Oh shit," Riley says under her breath as Mia looks at her. "What's wrong?" Riley looks back at her as she throws her phone onto her bed, "He got out his meetings early and he's coming in half an hour. I'm not even showered, I don't know what I'm gonna wear. Why does he always do this? He tells me one time and then he shows up hours earlier." Riley quickly picks out all the tops and bottoms on her bed. Mia walks over to her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Breathe, stop panicking. Everything's gonna be okay, I'm right here," then Amanda cuts her off, "So are we!" she says still on pause.
"If you are still getting ready, he will wait. Don't freak out, go shower and I'll pick out your outfits. I'll ask Amanda and Jade to help because they know you better than me," Mia tells her. Riley nods her head, sighing as she says "Thank you." She goes over to her bathroom, closing the door as she quickly gets ready to take a shower. Mia then picks up the phone, clicking back onto the call, "Alright ladies. You know her better than anyone else, what should she wear?" She turns the camera over, moving the phone across the room as the girls look at all the clothes that Riley has scattered all over the room.
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[7:00 pm]
A knock suddenly filled the silent room as Riley was drawing on eyeliner on her left eye. She jumped as she got surprised by the noise, making the line she was drawing go to the side. Mia looks over at Riley, giggling as she sees her mistake. Riley then looks at Mia through the mirror, grabbing a makeup remover wipe, "Stop laughing," she says trying to hold in her laugher, "Can you see who it is please." Mia gets up from the chair that's in Riley's room and the walks over to the front door. She looks through the little hole, seeing a yellow hair boy stand in the way. She swings open the door, seeing Yeonjun who is looking down at his hands.
He's wearing a yellow and black striped sweatshirt with washed out blue jeans and yellow hightops. "Wow, you're really going for the whole lemon look here aren't you buddy?" Mia tells him, making Yeonjun fluster. "I-I'm sorry, do I have the right apartment number? Does Riley live here?" he asks Mia nervously. She nods her head, "You're in the right place, nice to see you too Yeonjun. You forgot about me already?" She stands to the side, letting Yeonjun walk in. He nervously chuckle over at Mia, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, M-Mia right? Forgive me, I'm usually good at remembering people."
Mia lightly pushes him as she closes the door behind him, "Hey, relax dude. I was just messing with you. Riley is getting ready right now. I'll go see if she's ready, you can go ahead and sit down if you want." She points over to the couch as she walks back into Riley's room. She knocks on her door before quickly going in and then closing it behind her.
Riley is putting on lip gloss as she looks over at Mia who just walked in. Riley turns around as she's wearing a flower print tube top with her sleeves down to her shoulders and the matching skirt, exposing a part of her waist area. "Is Yeonjun here?" she asks Mia. She nods her head, smiling widely, "Yeah and you two are matching." Riley curls the ends of hair a bit as she runs her fingers gently through it, making them light beach waves. "Shut up, no we're not. I'm wearing a flower print, I don't think he'll wear flowers. Which, if he does, that's cute. Don't get me wrong, but Junnie doesn't wear things like that," she tells Mia. "No, but he's basically wearing mostly yellow and your outfit has light yellow flowers on it," Mia responds back.
Riley looks at herself one last time in the mirror, breathing out heavily. She grabs her perfume bottle, spraying herself a bit. "Riley, you look beautiful. Go greet your man already, poor dude is a nervous wreck," Mia tells her. Riley grabs her sandals from the closet, slipping them on as she closes the strap around her ankles. She then looks at Mia who is motioning her to get out already. Riley walks over to her bedroom door, opening it as she looks to the side. Yeonjun quickly stands up, surprised as he sees Riley walk out.
"Oh my god, you're so fucking gorgeous. Come here, give me a kiss," Yeonjun tells her, making Riley giggle out of nervousness. Her cheeks turn a bright red color as she places her hand over her mouth. She walks over to Yeonjun who wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her over to him and then kisses her lips quickly. "Did you match with me on purpose?" he asks. Riley shakes her head as she looks up at her boyfriend, "No, I didn't think you were gonna wear this. I guess tonight's mood is yellow." Riley laughs a little at her own comment, making Yeonjun laugh a long with her.
Mia slowly walks closer to the front door, "I'm just gonna leave you two lovebirds alone and head out. I'll text you later, okay Riles?" Riley, not breaking her attention at Yeonjun who took her hands into his, playing with her fingers as he also looks at her. "Yeah, that's fine," she then looks over at Mia quickly, "Thank you again for the help." Riley gives her a smile who also makes Mia smile. They both wave goodbye then Mia walks out of her apartment.
"I kind of wanted tonight to be a chill night where we just watch movies together and stay home. But you look so good, I need to take you out and show you off," Yeonjun says as he looks up and down Riley's frame. "And where do you have in mind? I'm new to this city, so what's a good place to go?" Riley asks him as she rubs her thumbs against his hands. "Have you ever had Korean food?" he asks her. Riley shakes her head, making Yeonjun grin. "Perfect, then let's go eat Korean food. I wanna show you what I eat back home." Riley smiles widely, nodding her head as she's just as excited as Yeonjun by the idea.
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[8:30 pm]
Riley and Yeonjun arrive at the first restaurant they were able to find with open tables. Riley walks in through the building, as a lady greets them. She speaks in a language that makes Riley look at Yeonjun quickly. He responds back to her in the same language, before he looks down at Riley who is really confused. "She was talking in Korean, she asked us how many we were and now she's gonna show us to our table. Come on, there's an open place for us," he tells Riley, taking her hand in his. Riley holds onto his hand, following behind him as the lady continues to talk to him. Riley, not understanding anything that is going on, smiles at the lady when she looks at her.
Once they arrive at their table, Riley tells her thank you, sitting down on the chair. She looks over at Yeonjun who is now sitting across from her. She looks down at the menu. Her eyes widen as she notices most of the words are in letters she does recognize. She looks up at Yeonjun who is looking down at his menu. "Um, Junnie?" she says softly, making the boy look over at her. "Is something wrong?" he asks her. "I can't read anything from this menu. There's not even photos where I can see what it looks like," Riley says. Yeonjun chuckles, grabbing her menu, turning it over to the now English side, "That's because you had on the Korean side, jagiya."
Riley stares at Yeonjun, holding the menu in her eyes, confused yet again at what he just called her. "What did you call me?" she asks him. Yeonjun looks back over at Riley, playing it off, "Hm? I called you jagiya." Yeonjun tries to hold back a smile as he sees Riley continue to stare at him with a confused look. He chuckles, "It's Korean for honey or darling. It's a nickname used among younger couples. Couples who aren't married." Riley smiles as she finally understands what he said. She then looks back at her menu, looking at the all the options. "If you see something to like, tell me. Or else, I'm gonna order a little of everything to show you a variety, okay?" Yeonjun says. "But isn't that gonna the bill really expensive?" Riley asks back. "Don't worry about that baby girl, tonight, I'm treating you," he says.
Riley gives him a similar look, the same look she gave him when he offered to buy her coffee this morning. "Junnie," she says. But Yeonjun quickly puts his hand up, "I don't wanna hear it baby. Let me spoil you, okay?" he says, moving his head up from his menu, giving Riley a smile before looking back down. Riley playfully pouts as she hides her head back into the menu. The same lady that greeted them at the door comes back. She looks at Riley and then at Yeonjun who is conversating with her.
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[9:00 pm]
The final plate of food finally arrives at their table. Riley looks over at Yeonjun who is already serving himself with chopsticks. Riley looks down at her chopsticks, trying to look for a fork or spoon. Yeonjun then looks at her, "Are you not gonna grab anything?" he asks her. "I don't know how to use chopsticks and there's no fork or spoon around," she says back. Yeonjun tells her to grab her chopsticks, Riley listens. He holds his chopsticks up in air, explaining to Riley how to properly hold onto it and how to use them. Riley watches Yeonjun, trying to mimic everything. She tries to grab a hold of a piece of carrot, "Okay, now try to feed yourself without dropping it. You can do it," Yeonjun says. She moves the chopsticks over to her mouth but before it reaches her, it drops onto the table. Yeonjun holds back his laughter, making Riley laugh out of embarrassment.
"It's okay, just try again. You can do it, look. Just hold them like you would hold your pencil, then move them with your index finger," Yeonjun says, showing Riley the movement by grabbing a piece of meat and then feeding himself. Riley tries again, doing the exact movement Yeonjun told her. This time, she grabs a piece of meat. She moves her head closer to the plate, moving it up to her mouth. She successful feeds herself as Yeonjun claps, "Woo! You did it, now keep doing that and you'll eventually get the hang of it."
After a few trial and errors, Riley finally gets the hang of using chopsticks but decided to use a fork and spoon to eat her food. Yeonjun didn't wanna make her feel left out, so he also decided to eat with a fork. "You didn't have to switch over, I would've been fine to use a fork alone," Riley tells him as she continues to eat the food in front of her. Yeonjun shakes his head and hums in respond, "I don't want my baby feeling embarrassed because she can't use chopsticks. Eating with a fork isn't weird to me, I did spend a year of my life here in the States once anyways."
Riley looks over at Yeonjun, surprised, "What do you mean?" Yeonjun glances over at her and then looks back down at his food, feeding himself before speaking. "When I was in elementary school, I spend a short amount of my time going to school here. That's how I was able to pick up English," he tells her. "I don't know why that didn't cross my mind. I thought you learned English through studies or something," she says. Yeonjun grins, "That too."
The next hour of their date was spend with Riley asking him questions about all the different plates that is in front of them. Yeonjun even tried to teach Riley how to pronounce different Korean words that she may hear if she ever comes back home with him. Yeonjun laughs at the way Riley struggles to pronounce certain words, but then applause her for trying her best. The lady finally comes back, hands them the check. Riley takes out her wallet to which Yeonjun stops her again.
"Don't even think about it Riley Page, I'm treating you," he says, placing his card down on the table. "At least let me leave the tip, I'm not gonna allow you to pay for everything Junnie, look how much it was," she tells him. Yeonjun shakes his head, clicking his tongue, "Absolutely not. I am leaving the tip too. Let me treat you for once without you trying to chime in, can I do that? I didn't think I have to ask my girlfriend to let me spoil her." Riley frowns, putting her wallet back into her purse, placing her hands down on her lap as she leans back into the chair.
She doesn't say anything but smile over at the lady who took Yeonjun's card to the back. Yeonjun looks over at her, "Are you really upset that I am not allowing you pay for anything babe?" Riley nods her head as she crosses her arms, staying silent as Yeonjun leans across the table. "You know, if you're gonna act like this every time I take you out, I'm just gonna stop taking you out completely. Is that what you want?" he tells her. She glances over at him, mumbling "No" before Yeonjun speaks up, "Words Riley, I can't understand you when you're mumbling all the time."
Riley keeps her arms crossed before finally sitting up, moving closer to Yeonjun, "No, sir. I just don't want everything thinking I'm only with you cause of your money status. I'm not that kind of person. I can pay and take of things for myself. I don't need my rich boyfriend paying for everything, I hate it." Once she finishes talking, she leans back into her chair. Yeonjun moves back as the lady comes back, she says thank you to them in English. Riley smiles over at the lady, before looking over at Yeonjun who is signing at the bottom of the bill. He leaves a $10 on the table and then he gets up.
"Riley, I know you're not with me for the money. I can tell when people only like me cause of that or they like me to get a gain out of me. It's been happening since my members and I debuted. But you're different, I know you're with me cause you actually wanna be with me. Now can you stop being so god damn stubborn and bratty and let me treat you the way I wanna treat my girl? And that's to love her and spoil her and show her how much I fucking appreciate her. Is that too much to ask for?" Yeonjun extends his hand out to Riley who is glancing up at him. She takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. She takes Yeonjun's hand, standing up from her chair as she pushes it in.
"I'm sorry. No, it's not too much to ask for and what you're doing is more than anyone has ever done to me. It's not that I don't want you to do these things, I just can't help but feel guilty," Riley says in a low tone. Yeonjun quickly kisses her cheek before pulling her gently towards the front door. Riley follows behind him, waving at the people who served them. They both walk out the door, walking towards the car that they came in.
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that you have nothing to feel guilty about. You deserved more than anything I can possibly give you. And I'm gonna be spending the rest of my life trying to even match what you truly deserve. If I can give you the whole world, I would. But since I can't, the most I can do is be the best person you deserve. I don't know what your ex did, but I promise you whatever he did to you that made you lose trust in everyone, I'm never gonna do that, okay? And I don't care how long it's going to take to show you that, but I won't ever stop until you realize it." Yeonjun looks down at Riley who is sniffing as she wipes her face with her free hand, looking away from him.
Yeonjun stops midway, letting go of Riley's hand so he can stand in front of her. "Oh my god, did I make you cry? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. Please don't cry, oh god. I'm so so sorry baby, look at me, please," he tells her. He moves his hand under her chin, Riley looks up at him smiling. "I'm not crying cause I'm sad, I'm crying cause I've never heard anyone say that to me. I've never had anyone who is actually going out of their way to make sure I'm loved and I'm happy. It's always been the other way around and so I didn't think it was suppose to be the other way around. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry," she tells him.
Yeonjun wipes Riley's cheeks with his thumb, he moves her hair away from her face. He leans to kiss her lips gently before pulling away, "You're my girl, you're my baby. You deserve to be treated and loved the same way you love everyone else. You can't always be the one doing all the work baby girl, sometimes you need a break and be babied too." Riley's face turns a bright pink, as she covers her face with hands. Yeonjun takes Riley's hand, holding onto it as they both walk back to the car. "You're way too good to me Yeonjun Choi," Riley says.
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[11:00 pm]
Riley and Yeonjun arrive at Riley's apartment door. Riley presses her back against her door, looking at Yeonjun as she keeps her hands behind her back. "Thank you for tonight, I had a really really good time. Hopefully once rehearsals start we have time to go on more dates and outings together," she tells him. Yeonjun grins, looking over at Riley, moving her hair behind her ear, "I had a good time also, we'll make time. Just between you and me, I kind of snuck out of my meetings today." Riley's widens her eyes as she hears Yeonjun's comment, "Junnie!" Yeonjun rubs the back of his neck, "I really wanted to see you! I knew we weren't gonna time tonight because after the meetings, we had to go practice." Riley crosses her arms as she frowns, "And so what? I would've understood."
Yeonjun leans down, kissing her quickly before standing up straight, "Don't worry about it baby girl. It's late, go inside and rest. I should probably get going too, it's kind of a long drive back." Riley shakes her head, unlocking her front door. "You're not driving back this late, you're staying over. Come on," she opens the door, grabbing Yeonjun's hand pulling him in before she closes her door behind them.