"Shut up." I groaned as the alarm woke me up early on Monday morning.

On Sunday, I just cleaned my house, did some planning for lessons this week and texted Hyunjin a little, though he was busy with a few performances.

I got up slowly, a little dizzy from a long sleep, and went straight to the shower to wake me up.

I changed into my work attire, a grey skirt and matching blazer with a white button shirt.

I grabbed some toast on the way out to work, driving across town and arriving early, as usual.

I like to arrive before any of the kids, to greet them and talk before we start lessons at 9.

I got out my stuff and my first student arrived after 10 or so minutes, it was Dami.

"Hello Miss Dami, How was your weekend?" I asked her, as she sat down at her desk.

"It was fun, Dad took us bowling and I ate lots of ice cream." She said with a smile.

"Awww that must have been very fun. Where was your mum darling?" I asked.

"Somewhere with Chan-ssi."

"And who's Chan?" I asked.

"Mum's boyfriend."

She spoke really well for a 7 year old, actually, she might be 8.

"Oh..." I said quickly and went back to writing notes. So they'd split, how sad to go through that at such a young age. At any age it's heartbreaking, but when you're younger it hurts more, though you may not understand it.

"And your weekend?" She asked me.

"I did some marking and shopping." I said, "Very boring, definitely not as fun as bowling and ice cream!"

She giggled.

Soon her friend entered and I was completely forgotten.

By 4 o'clock, when school finished, we had done painting with bubbles, inks and chalk, gone into the garden and looked at the different bugs/plants and had swimming lessons. Obviously we had the classic handwriting and basic maths but the kids enjoyed the more active lessons more, most certainly.

I followed the children onto the playground, making sure they were picked up by parents as usual.

"DADDY!" Dami shouted and ran to the same rude man as she had on Friday.

She held his hand and started talking quickly about her day, her dad hardly interested in her as his eyes caught mine.

He looked shocked and turned away after a few seconds, looking back at his daughter before chuckling with her though he knew nothing about what she was saying.

They walked off to the car park, where his posh car was located.

Dami sure is 'lucky', in some respects.

I got home, and once my phone got ahold of WiFi, I had notifications: email, text and calls.

You have 2 Missed Call(s) from Dad

You have 1 Missed Call(s) from Jackie

You have 3 Message(s) from

Hwang Hyunjin

You have 10+ Email(s) from

many addresses...

I didn't phone back my dad or brother, nor did I check the spam emails from random websites I had subscribed to year ago.

I did, however, open Hyunjin's texts.

-

Hey, I don't know when you finish work

Sorry if I'm disturbing you

Just wondering how you are

I finished at 4, it's alright

And I'm good thank You, and you

I'm good also

-

He answered rapidly, which made me smile to myself. Perhaps he was in a break at work or something, maybe he finished early.

-

I'm going to confess

Hmm

I'm texting because

Because why

I wanted to ask you out on a date

Huh? When? Where?

Tonight, at the Pizza Express in Hongdae

Huh

Annie-ya, would you like to go on a date with me?

Ummm.

It's cool

No, I'd like to

That's great! I'll see you at 7 ok?

I'll text you the address

See you then

Bye Annie

-

I stressed out a little after we stopped texting. I wasn't expecting that... well I was maybe hoping for it, but not expecting... never expecting it.

"Ahh." I said to myself before rationalizing it and working out my timings.

It was about 4:50 now, so I had hours until I needed to get ready.

I went to the gym for an hour, doing interval training and weight work, before running back to my apartment and having a shower.

It was almost 6 which is when I chose to watch TV for about half an hour before getting changed, Hongdae was only a 10 minute drive so I didn't have to leave for a short while.

I wore a knee length dark green dress with straps and no arms, I paired it with black heels and out on light makeup before straightening my hair.

I was very nervous as I stepped out of my apartment, I was worried that this Hyunjin guy was even going to show up, or that he really was who he said he was.

I parked a few minutes walk away from the Pizza Express building and hurried in my heels to the restaurant because I was maybe one minute late, and being unpunctual, to me, is just rude.

"Hello?" I asked, looking around the Pizza Express downstairs floor before a hand waved at me, gesturing for me to come to the table.

It was too dark to make out his face but as I walked closer, it became apparent that he was Hyunjin, and not a 50 year old peadophile.

He was way more handsome in real life.

"Hey Annie..." He said as I sat down opposite him at the table.

"You look very pretty." He said, looking away as a faint blush creeper up his cheeks.

"And you look very handsome; don't be embarrassed." I said, smiling warmly as our eyes met.

"I'm not." He said, chuckling a bit awkwardly before we began to speak about his dog Kkami, who I could meet anytime. She sounded so cute.

After an hour, having eaten food and waiting for the bill, I caught sight of a familiar figure in another corner of the restaurant.

I looked away just as the figure turned in our direction and walked out the restaurant, they probably didn't see me.

I don't know who it was, only that I had seen them before.

"You alright Annie?" Hyunjin asked me just as the waiter put the cheque on the table, having seen me space out for a minute or so.

"Yeah, all good. Let's split the bill."

He agreed, which made me smile. Usually on dates one of us either paid in full, but splitting was the best policy in my opinion.

We both paid and then left the restaurant, Hyunjin's hand grabbing mine as we walked down the street.

"Would you like to come meet Kkami?" He asked, pointing in the direction of his house.

"I'd love to!" I said, bouncing up and down like a kid in a candy store.

We led me to his apartment and we entered to Kkami jumping around us and licking our ankles.

"HELLO KKAMI!" I said, hugging her as she ran into my arms.

"You're so cute Kkami." I said, Hyunjin pouted which made me giggle.

"You give my dog more attention." He whined, I just giggled and shook my head.

"Cute things deserve attention." I said, smiling as I played with Kkami's fur.

"Am I not cute?"

"Nope." I said, answering truthfully.

"What am I?"

"Hot."

Fuck.

Why do I have to say what I think all the time?

I need to learn how to filter my thoughts.

Fuck.

"Pardon?" He said and I blushed beetroot red.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." He said with a smirk.

I put Kkami on the floor and she ran to her bed in the corner of the living room.

Hyunjin seemed like a clingy and cuddly type of person because he was hugging the pillow very tight as we sat next to each other on his sofa, watching crap TV.

"Can I hug you?" I asked after a while, noticing Hyunjin pouting.

His eyes widened so I took that as a 'yes' and wrapped my arms around him.

He wasn't boney which meant he was good to cuddle.

"Hmm..." I softly hummed as he brushed through my hair with his hand.

"Is Kkami asleep?" I asked.

"Yeah, She is." He replied, smelling the top of my head, which made me feel a little self-conscious.

"What shampoo do you use?" He asked.

"Something TRESemmé, I'm not sure." I said, giggling a little at the strange question.

I looked up at Hyunjin who was looking at me.

"Why did you join online dating?" I asked, he even looked handsome when I was looking up his nostrils.

"I could ask you the same question."

"I asked first."

"Because I was lonely and I haven't had a girlfriend in years."

"Really? How could you not?" I asked.

"I'm not just a pretty face, I want to be known for my-" He carried on and I nodded along to every single word, listening intently as he told me his life story and we had known each other for 3, almost 4, days.

"Well, I know you as Hyunjin not hot guy with great hair." I said.

"I have great hair?" He asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, to pull." I said, sitting up out of his arms and pulling his hair slightly from side to side, making Hyunjin laugh a lot.

"Hmm?" He said when I stopped pulling his hair.

"And to do this." I said, not knowing for sure what I was doing, but I went with it.

I kissed him.