As Joonhyuk was leaving school, Siyeon called after him and caught up to Joonhyuk. She asked Joonhyuk why he risked getting into trouble for her. He hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Joonhyuk wondered if he should tell her how he felt. He noticed Siyeon was gettin impatient and was beginning to leave. Joonhyuk realized he shouldn't pass up a chance like this.
"I like you. Han Siyeon, I really like you."
Siyeon turned around surprised. Joonhyuk's heart began to race. This was it. Joonhyuk was aware he only had one chance to seize everything he ever wanted. There was no retreating either. Yet, Joonhyuk knew it was the moment he was waiting for a long time for.
"Siyeon, I've liked you for awhile now. I think you're beautiful, kind and fun to be with. I know it may seem crazy, but the reason I took the blame was because I thought it might impress you."
"That's pretty sweet of you to do that." smiled Siyeon. "I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."
Joonhyuk had to control himself from smiling uncontrollably. There was only one thing left to do. He looked straight into her eyes and asked Siyeon, "I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date with me next Saturday." Joonhyuk felt as though he leaped off a cliff and time slowed down. He knew that everything was going to feel great or terrible depending on what she would say next. Her words would either make him feel as if he was flying high or hitting rock bottom. But it was a chance that any guy would take if it meant being with the girl of his dreams.
"Sure, one date will be alright." agreed Siyeon. "I guess I owe you one."
"Okay, meet me in front of Cloud Nine Shopping Mall this Saturday afternoon." continued Joonhyuk, brightly.
"Hmm, that'll be fine. See you then." Siyeon waved goodbye, and walked away.
Joonhyuk took a minute to process everything that just happened. He found it difficult to believe that he managed to ask the most beautiful girl in Shinra High out on a date. Joonhyuk was practically jumping for joy. He couldn't wait for Saturday to come. As the days passed by, Joonhyuk grew nervous. He wanted to make sure everything would go well if he ever hoped to make that transition from friend to boyfriend.
Eventually, Saturday came. Joonhyuk woke up early to get ready. He wanted to dress to impress Siyeon. Joonhyuk quickly finished up, grabbed a light jacket and ran out to Cloud Nine Shopping Mall. To his surprise, Siyeon was already waiting for him. Joonhyuk smiled and walked up to meet her.
"Hey, looks like I arrived first this time." said Siyeon, amused.
"Yeah. Sorry I'm late." Joonhyuk laughed, a little embarrassed. "You look really pretty today."
"Hmm, thanks. You look pretty good yourself."
Joonhyuk was beaming with pride. "Thanks. Shall we go inside?" he said, opening the door for her.
Joonhyuk and Siyeon walked around, chatting about things that were going on at school and in their life. He felt that Siyeon was enjoying herself and was having fun. They both entered a couple clothing stores to browse for new items on sale. Joonhyuk tried out a couple of shirts that Siyeon picked out. Pleased with her amazing sense of fashion, Joonhyuk trusted her judgement and bought a few shirts. Afterwards, they passed by a bookstore. Joonhyuk took Siyeon inside to buy some books to help her with her studying. They had fun finding and discussing about which books they've read before and enjoyed.
After Siyeon finished buying some books, Joonhyuk suggested stopping at a small cafe inside the mall. Joonhyuk ordered two iced coffees and brought it back to a table Siyeon was sitting at. They both sat and drank the iced coffees comfortably. Not wanting to have any awkward silence, Siyeon spoke up. "What's on your mind?"
"Oh, nothing much. I'll be honest though. Just a little surprising that a popular girl as beautiful and amazing as yourself would be going out with an ordinary guy like me. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time and I hope you are too."
Siyeon smiled back, "Thanks, that's really nice of you. But you should really give yourself a little more credit. Joonhyuk-ssi, you're a pretty great guy. Have some confidence in yourself. Girls like a guy who is comfortable with who he is. When you've got some more self-confidence, you're more likely to take chances. Girls like to be surprised, trust me."
"Hmm okay then. I'll try and be more confident then." declared Joonhyuk, causing Siyeon to laugh.
She admitted, "I'm not as popular as you make me sound. I actually don't have that many close friends at Shinra. Some people think I am intimidating and don't talk to me. Being labeled as the cool and popular girl isn't as great as it seems."
Joonhyuk joked, "Well, you have me as a friend now. I won't be leaving anytime soon either!"
Suddenly Joonhyuk's cell phone started to ring. When he checked the caller ID, he noticed that it was Taebyun calling. "Oh great...I'm sort of busy right now buddy." Joonhyuk quickly apologized to Siyeon and picked up his cell phone. "Hey, what's up?"
"Oh, just wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon. Maybe we can go to Cybernet for an hour or two and play Starcraft?"
"Sorry Taebyun, I'm busy right now. Let me call you back later."
"Wait, where are you now? Are you home?"
Not wanting to tell Taebyun that he was with Siyeon, Joonhyuk decided to make up a lie. He excused himself from the table to talk on the phone privately. "Uh, I'm working at T-Mart right now. My father wanted me to help out today. Taebyun, I'll call you later!" He hung up the phone and walked back to Siyeon.
"Hey, sorry about that. So do you want to get going now? Check out some other stores?"
As Joonhyuk and Siyeon left the cafe, Joonhyuk did not realize that Taebyun was hiding behind a pillar near the cafe. Taebyun was passing by the cafe and stopped when he saw Joonhyuk sitting with a girl. He was curious to know who the mystery girl was, skeptical that it was Siyeon. After Joonhyuk and Siyeon walked away, Taebyun stepped out from hiding. "Why would Joonhyuk lie about being at his family's store? He's clearly on a date with a beautiful girl and doesn't want me to know. I'll just ask him about it later."
However, Taebyun wasn't the only one at the mall. Eunjoo was also at Cloud Nine Shopping Mall to get her cell phone fixed. She finished her business at the cell phone shop and left. Eunjoo walked out to the glass ledge and glanced at the group of people walking throughout the mall from the third floor. Amidst the crowd, Eunjoo recognized Joonhyuk walking with Siyeon a floor below from where Eunjoo was standing.
Eunjoo called out to Joonhyuk, "Oppa! Joonhyuk op--". Eunjoo cut her sentence short when she saw Joonhyuk suddenly reach out and held Siyeon's hand as they both continued to walk through the mall.
