sessions

chapter 7

Johnny lie comfortably on Taeyong's bed, as Taeyong struggled to get ready for his first date ever. If he told Taeyong at the beginning of the school year that he would be going out on a date, much less with Jennie Kim, he would've laughed at him.

"C'mon, don't stress too much over what you're going to wear." Johnny said, playing with his phone.

"You've been on dates before, but I haven't." Taeyong argued, fixing his hair, studying it in the mirror.

"As far as I know, you don't have feelings for Jennie. So why bother with all the stress?"

"It's just nerves, okay?"

Johnny got up from the bed, patting his best friend on the back. "Look at my man, growing up and going on his first date." He fake wiped a tear away from his eyes, earning a glare from Taeyong.

"You know, you going out on a date makes me want a girlfriend." Johnny confessed, leaning on Taeyong's wall.

"There's plenty of fish out there, man. You're a handsome guy, its not too hard."

"I don't want just a girlfriend. I want someone who I may stay with for a long time."

"Johnny, you're barely even 19."

"I know. But, I just feel like you and Jennie are a special pair." He shrugged. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Nevermind that. Can you give me my cologne?"

Johnny nodded and stood up, a bit bothered about his ignored question. He gave him his spray, and sat back down. Johnny looked at his watch. "It's about 7:30. You should head over there now."

"Shoot, I should." He grabbed his coat, and opened the door. "Are you going to stay here?"

"Yeah. I might just ask your mom what you want for Christmas."

Taeyong nodded, before running down the stairs. "I'll be back, Mom!"

"Have fun on your date!" She answered, calling from the laundry room. "My little boy is growing up." She said to herself, though Taeyong could still hear it. He opened the front door and out into the cold winter evening.

It took a while to finally pull into the neighborhood that could possibly be Jennie's. He pulled into the driveway the GPS was leading him into. Her house was huge, and beautiful. It was nice, with a huge front porch. Before he could take in even more of the view, he saw Jennie standing there, huddled in her coat. Taeyong was alarmed, he thought he was going to knock on her door first. He got out of the car, rushing over to her.

"Oh good god, you must be so cold." Taeyong said, bringing her arm and walked quickly to the car.

"No, I just came outside." She explained, opening the passenger side door.

"You should've just waited inside, its too cold." Taeyong shivered, walking to his side of the car.

"It's fine, Taeyong. No one got hurt." She reassured him. Taeyong finally gave in, moving his car into reverse.

They arrived at their destination, which was a skating rink. It seemed kind of silly since they could do it outside, but it was way too cold.

Inside, Taeyong was reading the price admissions. Jennie was currently removing the many pieces of her winter garments. After Taeyong finished reading, he looked back at his date, who was holding onto her coat and scarf.

Taeyong was once again left speechless, her hair was wavier, her skin looked flawless as always, and she looked stunning, even in a casual outfit.

She noticed him staring, and started blushing. "I'll go hang these up, okay?" She said, holding her things up.

"Oh, yeah sure. I'll go get our skates and stuff." Taeyong snapped out of his trance. He felt a bit creepy, after being caught staring. He tried shaking it off and went towards the front desk. 

The girl working there looked up from her book and looked interested at the approaching Taeyong, once again looking at the signs hanging around.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She greeted.

"How big is the skating rink?"

"I'd say its roomy." She smiled. "Are you all alone here? You're too cute to be here all alone. It's a bit of a romantic spot for a date." She winked afterwards, leaving Taeyong speechless. No one had hit on him before. This season was one he had never experienced before. "I'm Lynn, by the way."

"I'm Taeyong," he awkwardly greeted.

"So, how about when I get off my shift, we can skate together?"

Taeyong blinked rapidly. "Actually uh-"

An arm linked into his left arm. "Actually, we are on a date." Jennie smiled, holding Taeyong close. The face on Lynn's face was priceless, upon seeing Jennie.

"Oh, excuse me. My bad." Lynn blushed, "two pairs of skates, then?"

Jennie nodded, her smile never faltering. "Size 6 for me."

"Size 13." Taeyong added afterwards.

Lynn rushed towards the skates and rang them up. "Enjoy," she nearly whispered. Jennie waved goodbye, and walked  inside with Taeyong.

"How well can you skate, Jennie?"

"I can skate a bit. It's been years since I've skated." She answered, tying her shoelaces. "You?"

"I'm good."

The two finished readying their shoes, ready to go skating. There were a good hanful of people already skating, enjoying themselves. Taeyong began skating, followed by Jennie, who wasn't as confident as the older boy.

"Are you good?" Taeyong skated alongside Jennie, holding out his arms incase she fell.

"Yeah, I think so. Sorry, I'm just nervous around you." She apolgized, balancing herself.

"Nervous? But we've been around each other for a while now."

"Yes, and even then I could barely manage." She laughed to herself. She laughed a bit too hard and lost her balance. She almost hit the hard icy surface before Taeyong caught her.

"Oh my god-" she was left breathless. "Thank you."

Taeyong nodded, standing her up. Their arms were still embracing each other, unsure of what to do.

Jennie leaned forward towards Taeyong, her forehead on his forehead. She was 2 inches away from his lips. Taeyong was frozen as the ice they were skating on.

That was, until a kid skated near them, interupting the moment. Jennie realized what she was doing and stepped back. "Can you help me back to the benches?"

Taeyong nodded quietly and guided her slowly towards the exit of the rink.

Guilt was eating Taeyong alive. Here he had was a beautiful, kind girl who had a huge crush on him, and he simply felt like he wasn't enough for her. 

Was there a hidden childhood trauma that had made him like this? He supposed there was this one time.

After the date, Jennie and Taeyong were walking back to the car.

"Jennie, I'm really sorry." He said, breaking the silence. Jennie turned around, confused.

"For what?"

"You have all these feelings for me, but I can't find myself feeling the same back. It's selfish."

"Taeyong, how you thought that it's selfish, I'll never know." She held his arm in reassurance. "It's okay if you don't like me back, it happens all the time. I'll just enjoy my time with you, until you find someone else." Jennie smiled. It was a happy smile, with hidden sadness beneath it all. "Please, just don't feel guilty."

She opened the door, and sat down inside.

Taeyong was then left alone in the parking lot. He sighed, closing his eyes. Other than guilty, he felt lost. He opened the car door and started the car.