Chapter 16

"I think I"

Yoo Jin looked at her own reflection in the mirror while tapping her foot continuously on the floor, letting out a huge sigh before she mouthed a quiet 'no' and then took off the outfit she was wearing, and tossed it in the pile with the rest.

As she stared at the mountain of clothes, she started worrying about her sanity, but even still, she couldn't just leave the room in her undergarments, and once again, she went on a search in her closet.

Too fancy, she thought while looking at the piece of clothes she had in her hand.

Too plain, she thought, looking at the next piece.

With a frustrated groan, Yoo Jin sat down on the floor in her room, on the one spot that wasn't covered in clothes.

Her head was spinning, why was this taking so long? She had been going on dates hundreds of times before, and this wasn't even a real date. But maybe that was exactly what confused her so much. If she got all dulled up, she worried that Taehyun would get the wrong impression, she had absolutely no intention of leading him on. But if she just wore her every-day, plain clothes, she felt like she would be cheating Taehyun, she did promise him a real date afterall.

Just pull yourself together, scolded Yoo Jin herself, time is ticking, just wear something simple. It is too cold outside anyway, so the winter coat will cover everything.

After saying those words to herself, Yoo Jin took in a deep breath and walked over to the pile of clothes and dug into it. She remembered the third, or was it the fourth, outfit she had discarded. It wasn't too bad after all, and with time moving by way too fast, she would just have to settle for it.

A pair of black jeans and light brown, knitted sweater to keep her warm underneath her coat. She braided her hair into one long braid, brought to rest on her left shoulder. It wasn't anything fancy, but that was the amount of abilities she had. In the end, she would have to wear a hat to cover her ears, she didn't want to come home with a flu, and her ears were especially sensitive in the cold weather.

After quickly folding most of her clothes, Yoo Jin realized time was running away from her, and she hurried up and grabbed her purse, before leaving her bedroom and walking down the stairs. She was neither silent or graceful while walking downstairs, and in less than a second, Yeonjun popped his head up from the couch and looked at his sister running to the hallway, in deep confusion.

"Noona, where are you going?" asked Yeonjun and Yoo Jin turned around, looking at him with a nervous and stressed expression in her eyes.

"I… um…" stuttered Yoo Jin.

"Do you have a job interview today?" asked Yeonjun.

"Um… no… that is not it…" said Yoo Jin and tried to think of an excuse, "actually… I am late… so… I will just leave…"

"If you don't have a job interview, then why are you all dolled up?" Yoo Jin's expression suddenly changed into a much more offended one.

"Excuse me, I am not dolled up at all!" said Yoo Jin firmly.

"Uh, yes you are," said Yeonjun, "you braided your hair and you even put on makeup. Lips don't shine like that normally." Yoo Jin instinctually covered her mouth, cursing herself for putting on lip-gloss after all.

"S… so what! Can't a girl dress up if she wants to?" asked Yoo Jin with her nose pointing up, "besides, I don't have time to explain everything to you. Tell mom I will be home late, bye."

"If you say so," said Yeonjun and waved at his sister as she left the house. Yeonjun turned around, again facing the TV and leaned back with a sigh.

Weird girl.

Yoo Jin ran down the streets, towards the destination Taehyun had given her, and when she reached it, she was left with a confused expression on her face.

"Noona!" yelled Taehyun excitedly when he saw Yoo Jin arriving at the bus stop, trying to catch her breath after running the entire way there.

"I am sorry… I am late…" said Yoo Jin, using the bus stop sign to support her frail body.

"No, you are right on time," said Taehyun with a smile, "the bus will be here in… about 5 minutes or so." Yoo Jin was finally able to stand up straight and she walked a bit closer to Taehyun.

"Where are we going?" asked Yoo Jin, but Yoo Jin just saw a big smirk appear on Taehyun's face.

"You will have to wait and see," said Taehyun, "oh, the bus is here."

Once they got on the bus and sat down next to each other, Yoo Jin thought about asking one more time, but in the end she stayed silent. Instead she just leaned back in the seat and decided to enjoy the ride. Taehyun spent the entire trip looking out of the window, while going over everything in his mind and trying to remain calm.

Yoo Jin and Taehyun stayed on the bus until they reached the last destination, a neighborhood town. Even though it was only around 10 kilometers away, it felt like they had entered another dimension when they walked out of the bus.

The town wasn't much bigger than their hometown, but the amount of people there, reminded Yoo Jin of the busy streets of Seoul. Everywhere she looked, it was crowded and people walked around in small groups, laughing and talking to each other.

"What is going on here?" asked Yoo Jin, while following Taehyun through the crowd.

"I am not sure, I only know it is some kind of festival," answered Taehyun.

"A festival?" said Yoo Jin quietly, but she raised her voice when she continued, "is that where we are going?" Taehyun stopped in his tracks, making the people behind them take a detour to pass by them.

"Yeah…" said Taehyun and looked at the ground, starting to doubt his plan, "there was a flyer on the dock, it said there would be an outdoor ice skating rink, so I thought maybe we could try it out."

"Ice skating?" said Yoo Jin, again in a lower voice.

"Do you… do you not like it?" asked Taehyun and Yoo Jin turned her eyes to him, finding a nervous and insecure look on his face.

"No, that is not it…" said Yoo Jin quickly, "I have just… never tried it."

"Really?" said Taehyun, his mood seemingly a bit lighter now, "it is not that hard, I can teach you."

"I… I don't know," said Yoo Jin, immediately seeing herself fall down and hurt herself for her inner eye.

"I promise you, it will be fun," said Taehyun convincingly, "just, give it a try." Yoo Jin looked at Taehyun, whose eyes had widened to twice their size, looking like those of a puppy asking for attention.

"Alright, I will give it a try," said Yoo Jin and watched Taehyun's entire face light up.

After walking a little further, passing by who knows how many people, Taehyun and Yoo Jin arrived at what seemed to be the center of the festival. A sign showed the way to the ice skating rink, and before they knew it, they were standing in line to rent a pair of skates.

"How are you doing?" asked Taehyun after he finished putting on his skates, watching Yoo Jin sit on the bench, still struggling with hers.

"Just… one… second…" said Yoo Jin and Taehyun wondered if he should offer his help, but before he reached a conclusion, Yoo Jin finally managed to finish and looked up with a happy expression on her face.

"I am ready!" said Yoo Jin and stood up, but the weird sensation of standing up with skates on, almost made her fall back down on the bench.

"Woah," said Yoo Jin, trying to regain her balance by holding onto the railing, "are you sure I can do this?"

"Of course, just hold my hand and trust me," answered Taehyun.

"What?"

"Trust me," said Taehyun again.

"No… the thing before that…"

"Oh, 'hold my hand'?" said Taehyun in realization, "but that is the easiest way for you to learn."

"Really? I mean, I am a fast learner, so maybe I don't need heeeeeeeeeelp-" Yoo Jin nearly fell right onto her face when she tried to take a step forward, but Taehyun reacted quickly and got a hold of her. Yoo Jin looked up, her cheeks turning red from the embarrassment when she saw Taehyun looking at her with a raised eyebrow and letting out a sigh.

"Just hold my hand, will you?" said Taehyun, "it can't be such a horrible thought to you, holding my hand."

"Who said I didn't want to hold your hand," said Yoo Jin and quickly interlocked her hand with his. 

The warm sensation of Yoo Jin's hand touching his own, quickly sent shivers down his spine and Taehyun struggled to keep his cool, scolding himself, since this was his idea to begin with. Neither of them had thought about bringing gloves, but their hands weren't too cold, having been coped up in their pockets most of the time. 

Taehyun quickly pulled himself together and slowly dragged Yoo Jin out on the ice. Watching her nervous posture and worried eyes made a smile appear on Taehyun's face, his nervousness from before disappearing immediately. Instead, he focused all his energy on teaching Yoo Jin how to keep her balance, how to push herself forward and take turns. While holding her hand, they skated around on the ice and little by little, she got more confidence in herself.

"I think I am getting a hang on this," said Yoo Jin, "I think I can do it on my own now." Taehyun hesitated for a bit, but in the end he let go out Yoo Jin's hand, a dejected smile appearing on his face.

"Alright, show me what you've got, then," said Taehyun. Yoo Jin showed a determined look and then took in a deep breath before setting off, skating forward. Her faint smile became bigger and as she took a turn, her smile turned into laughter.

"Look, Taehyun, look!" said Yoo Jin excitedly and Taehyun couldn't help but laugh too.

"You are doing great, Noona," yelled Taehyun back and Yoo Jin felt another boost of confidence, deciding to go even faster.

"You were right, this isn't hard at all," said Yoo Jin and took another turn, skating back towards Taehyun at a high speed. 

"Wait," said Yoo Jin, watching Taehyun get closer and closer to her, "how… how do I stop?" Before she could even finish her next thought and before Taehyun had time to react, Yoo Jin slammed into Taehyun and knocked him over on the ice, whereafter she herself, landed right on his stomach.

"Ugh," said Taehyun as he felt all the oxygen leave his lungs when Yoo Jin landed on him.

"Oh… oh no… Taehyun, I am sorry… are you okay?" said Yoo Jin while moving around, trying to get back on her feet.

"Stop!" yelled Taehyun quickly and Yoo Jin stayed completely still on his command, "don't… move around… just… give me a second to catch my breath." 

"O… okay…" said Yoo Jin and did as he said, staying as still as possible. Even the milliseconds felt like hours while Yoo Jin stayed still and she quickly noticed the people around them staring and whispering, making her cover her face in embarrassment. 

"Alright, try… try standing up slowly," said Taehyun, his voice sounding more normal than before.

"Okay," said Yoo Jin and gave it a try, managing to remove herself from Taehyun quicker than she thought, a smile of relief appearing on her face.

"I am really sorry," said Yoo Jin again, while giving Taehyun a hand, to help him get up.

"It is okay, I should have taught you how to stop before I let you go on your own," said Taehyun, "from now on, I am definitely not letting go of your hand." Without hesitation, Taehyun reached out and grabbed Yoo Jin's hand again, this time intertwining his fingers with hers, making Yoo Jin's heart beat and extra beat.

"Um… actually…" said Yoo Jin, while slowly removing her hand from Taehyun's, "I think I have had enough ice skating for one day." 

"Oh… okay…" said Taehyun, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes, but he quickly shook it off and started looking around the small festival.

"What about… that?" Yoo Jin looked to the right where Taehyun was pointing.

"A Ferris Wheel?" asked Yoo Jin.

"Yeah, we can just sit and relax for a bit, while enjoying the view," said Taehyun.

"I don't know how much view you will get from such a small Ferris Wheel."

"You and your endless prejudice of heights," said Taehyun with a sigh, while Yoo Jin just started at him, until she couldn't hold back her laughter anymore.

"Sorry," said Yoo Jin, "you are right, I shouldn't be prejudiced, let us try the Ferris Wheel, it looks fun."

"I don't know if I want to anymore," said Taehyun and looked away with his nose pointing towards the sky.

"Aish, stop being such a child," said Yoo Jin and lightly hit Taehyun on his arm, making him eye her in surprise.

"Alright alright," said Taehyun then, "but at least hold my hand so I can help you get to the other side to return the skates."

"Sure," said Yoo Jin and held out her hand, letting Taehyun guide the way so they could both return the skates.

The line to the small Ferris Wheel wasn't too long and soon after, they each found themselves seated across from each other in the small stool. Being alone, all by themselves like that, suddenly turned the atmosphere much more awkward and for a while, none of them knew how to start a conversation.

As the wheel started turning, it seemed like Taehyun finally decided to speak first.

"Thank you… for going on a date with me," said Taehyun and Yoo Jin looked up.

"You are welcome… I hope it was a good enough date," said Yoo Jin and laughed nervously, while the wheel slowly kept turning, bringing them closer to the top.

"Of course it was good enough, because I was with you." Taehyun's words made Yoo Jin hold her breath for a second, feeling her cheeks turn slightly redder, but she quickly regained her senses.

"I… I am glad you had fun…" said Yoo Jin, "but next time, I think you should take a girl on your own age, out on a date."

"Why?"

"Because, this isn't right," said Yoo Jin.

"Why not? Did you not have fun?" asked Taehyun.

"This isn't about how I felt," said Yoo Jin, "this is about you and your crush on me." Taehyun froze on the spot when Yoo Jin spoke those words.

"I know you have a crush on me, actually, I think I have known for a while," continued Yoo Jin, "I knew I shouldn't have led you on like this, by saying yes to a date, but you worked really hard and I thought you deserved a reward. But that is it, that is all this date was and you need to understand that. You are still so young, this crush of yours will pass, just like most crushes do."

"STOP!" yelled Taehyun, his frustration evident in his voice, "why… why do you talk like that? Like you know how I feel?" It turned quiet in the stool which had now stopped at the top of the wheel, letting them both enjoy the view, even though no one even thought about that at this point.

"I… I just-"

"I haven't even been able to tell you about my feelings yet… that was… how can you say it is just a crush?" said Taehyun and Yoo Jin stared into the young boy's eyes, not knowing how to respond and simply waited for him to continue.

"A crush is just… how it all started out. Because you… because you are so beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off you from the first time I saw you, after you moved back here. And the more time I spend with you, the more my affection grew. The way you never give up, even though life isn't easy on you. How you always make sure to look out for Yeonjun, even if you try to make it look like you aren't. How you helped me find my dream and believed I would be able to achieve it. And how much you have helped me, how patient you have been while teaching me. Those are all reason why my affection for you grew."

The stool, which had started moving a little while ago, was slowly reaching the bottom, and just before that, Taehyun opened his mouth again.

"Noona," he said, his eyes dilated as he looked directly into Yoo Jin's chocolate brown eyes, "I think I am falling in love with you."

Hello everyone!

First of all, I want to thank every single one of you who has been reading my books and supporting me on this website. It really means a lot to me.

I hope you liked this chapter, please let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.

Take good care of yourself during this cold winter, stay warm and stay safe.

Love, Annalise~