𝕋𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕄𝕖 || ℂ.𝕐𝕁

~7~

That night I laid in bed, hands on my stomach while I stared up at the white ceiling. White was such a boring color. We should paint over it. But who painted their ceilings?

I was trying to distract myself, burying my face in the cool silk of my pillowcase. I shouldn't have been so nervous, it was only a playdate and dinner, he might not even stay.

I let out a slow exhale, tossing and turning in my bed for the rest of the night

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning was worse. Anxiety crept up every limb of my body, I almost shattered a cup of tea with my shaking. I was glad that Alia and I were a little earlier than usual to school so I didn't have to worry about running into Yeonjun.

Thank god I didn't have work that day. I flew into a cleaning frenzy, everything needed to be spotless. The kitchen, the living room, bathroom, me and Alia's rooms.

I cleaned until it was time to pick her up from school, practically crashing the car into several inanimate objects on the drive there. Before pulling into the parking lot of her school, I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down. I saw Alia run out of the tall, black front doors of the brick building and down the concrete stairs, putting on a smile as I got out of the car to buckle her into her seat.

"Are you excited?" I asked once I was back in the front, pulling the car into reverse and looking behind me to make sure the path was clear.

She nodded frantically. "I'm really, really excited! What time are they coming over?"

I checked the time, eyes widening. "20 minutes. Let's go!"

I drove back to the apartment building, racing Alia up the steps and into our apartment. She stared in shock at the state of the rooms.

"Everything's so..." she trailed off, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"So what?" I asked, shrugging off my jacket and hanging it on a little metal hook by the front door.

"Clean." She finally decided. I laughed, tidying up the last few dishes in the sink I had missed.

A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. My heart jumped and I walked on shaky legs to open it. I stood behind the closed door for only a second to calm my nerves, then twisted the doorknob to the side and pulled it open.

Yeonjun grinned down at me. "Is this the right place?" he joked.

I smiled, leading them in. "No, I stole it a few minutes ago," I said, deadpan. "We live down the street."

Yeonjun seemed surprised by my sarcasm, but laughed, taking his shoes off by the front door. Jiho ran off to find Alia, and I stood with him, trying not to seem awkward.

"Hey," I finally said with a smile, hugging him. His arms went around my waist, his chin on the top of my head.

"Hi. Nice place," he commented when I pulled away, trying to calm my beating heart.

I raised my eyebrows. "I cleaned for like 5 hours today. It's not usually like this."

Yeonjun cracked a smile. "You didn't have to clean. It would've been fine."

I flopped dramatically onto the couch. "This trash heap? Sure, sure. Totally fine," I said, drawing out the O in totally.

He sat down next to me. "Should I clean when you come over to my house?"

I looked over at him, crossing my legs and leaning against the arm of the couch. "I wasn't aware we were going to be going to your house, but in that case, yes, you should. Unless it's already spotless, then you're good."