off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ ninety three

By now, Lilah had sort of gotten used to the idea of going on dates with Gyuvin. They'd been on quite a few already, and though she was always quick to fluster, the part of a girlfriend had come rather naturally to her. It had come to a point where she was even able to get a wink of sleep before a date, instead of spending the entire night stressing out about it — good news for her dark circles. Lilah was sure that, one day, she wouldn’t turn entirely red just at the thought of Gyuvin holding her hand in public.

Despite her progress, today's date had come with its fair share of anxiety. It had nothing to do with her worries of how much fun she could be, or if they'd get caught; instead, it very much had to do with her outfit. Standing alone in the subway station, Lilah let her eyes wander down to her body. The sky blue flowers, the frills... Maybe she'd been a little foolish when she'd bought that one dress he'd noticed back when they'd gone shopping together, before they were even dating. Would he find it weird? He had said it would look good on her, but it was just a passing remark. Was it weird that she'd remembered? Would he think she was just an attention seeker for wearing it? Still, she'd had to gather so much courage to even go inside the store.

Lilah was too deep in her thoughts to notice her boyfriend nonchalantly march towards her. "Hey, Lilah."

She flinched, immediately turning towards him as if she’d been caught in the middle of a crime, her dress swirling around her. Any word he'd prepared to say died on his tongue, and Gyuvin's eyes widened, before they descended down her form. Lilah held her breath, waiting for judgement to be passed, as if she was on a modeling show and was to be evaluated by a stern judge.

"Oh my god," he murmured under his breath, passing a hand over his face. "It's the dress. And I was right, you look so..."

Forgoing his duty as judge, Gyuvin did not finish his sentence. Instead, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, tearing a yelp of surprise from Lilah's mouth. He squeezed and squeezed, so tightly Lilah felt her heels depart from the ground, air leaving her lungs. Even as she tried to pat his arms in an attempt to get him to let her down so she could take one single breath, Gyuvin still held her, so strongly she thought their bodies might start to fuse. Whether the whispers around them were just people having their own conversations, or they were actually talking about them, Lilah didn't know, but what she knew was that she was probably completely red.

"You're the most beautiful girl in the world," Gyuvin whispered, his lips resting on the top of her head.

Finally, Gyuvin gently put her down, though his arms remained firmly around her waist, and she kept her face buried in his chest. Truth be told, she hardly wanted anyone to see the effect his words had on her. The worst part was, they were exactly what she'd hoped for, when she'd walked into that store, ready to buy that very dress. How was it that Gyuvin always knew exactly what to say? Even when she wanted to doubt that he loved her at all, he always proved that he loved her twice as much. She'd really lucked out on her first boyfriend, hadn’t she?

"Train's here," he muttered as he let her go reluctantly.

Lilah quickly tidied up her hair with one hand, as Gyuvin took hold of the other, pulling her with him into the train. If she was hoping to get a little time away from people's eyes and stares, Lilah was sorely disappointed. The subway car was filled to the brim, a much unusual occurence considering the time of day. The two of them had to shimmy their way through the crowd, barely managing to find a breathable spot before the doors closed behind them.

Surely, the ride wouldn’t last more than a quarter of an hour, but Lilah already felt a tremble rise from her fingers to her arms. Riding the subway was already stressful enough, rush hour added a whole new dimension to it that left her on edge. As the car rocked back and forth almost imperceptibly, Lilah took a breath in, searching for a pole she could hold onto. When a stranger's bag suddenly bumped into her shoulder, she flinched, almost taking a stumble to the ground.