Wonderland || Park Sunghoon

nine

Nari was bored.

She usually liked bookstores, but this was a bookstore for textbooks.

The last thing she wanted to do was buy a textbook. But Keiko and Jay needed books, and Chae was telling them which ones she used, and which brands she liked.

Nari stared longingly across the hall at the ice cream parlor.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned around.

"You want to go get ice cream with me?" Sunghoon whispered.

She nodded excitedly. "Lemme tell Jay," she whispered back, leaving him for a second and rushing over to Jay.

"Sunghoon and I are going to get ice cream. Meet us there?"

Jay nodded, not really looking at her. He had two books in his hands and was trying to decide. "Okay," he said distractedly.

She ran back to where Sunghoon was waiting, linking their arms and pulling him over to the ice cream parlor.

"What would you like?" Sunghoon asked. "My treat."

You.

Now why did she think that?

She coughed, touching her fingers to her face and trying to figure out if she was blushing or not.

"Umm..." she mumbled, scanning the different flavors. "How about coffee flavored?"

Sunghoon nodded and turned to the cashier, a woman who reminded Nari of her grandmother. "Two coffee ice creams please."

"Cup or cone?"

"Cup?" Sunghoon suggested, turning to her with questioning eyes. She nodded.

"You guys are such a cute couple," the woman gushed, scooping their ice cream and handing it to them.

Nari was certain she was blushing now. "Oh, we're not-"

"I'm going to give you a discount," she continued. "You remind me of my son and his wife."

Nari's eyes widened. A discount?

Sure, she wasn't even the one paying, but no one could turn down a discount.

"How long have you two been together?" She continued, taking the money from Sunghoon.

"Ma'am, we're not-" Sunghoon started.

She elbowed him. "Two months," she said brightly. "We've been together for two months."

Sunghoon looked at her, his eyes wide in disbelief. In response, she took his hand.

"Yeah..." he agreed. "Two months."

"That's so lovely," the woman said, handing them their change. "I hope you stay together forever."

"I hope so too," Nari said. Sunghoon took the change and she let go of his hand, using one to hold her ice cream and the other to wave goodbye to the sweet woman. "Goodbye! Have a nice day! And thank you so so much!"

"You lied to her," Sunghoon whispered, shaking his head at her playfully.

"I got you a discount, so shut up," she laughed, bumping her shoulder into his. They sat at one of the tables for two and started eating.

"Well I suppose I should thank you for getting me a discount," Sunghoon said, giving her one of his heart stopping smiles.

Ahhhhh.

That was how she felt when he smiled at her like that. When his eyes sparkled and in the rare moments when she'd heard him laugh.

He was just so cute, and her heart melted whenever she was with him.

Which had really just been twice. So maybe she was over-reacting a little bit.

But she didn't care.

Maybe she didn't lie to that woman, not really.

Because who knew... maybe one day she would be dating him?

Get a hold of yourself Nari. You've been friends for a day.

"You okay?" He asked.

And there it was again. That smile.

No, I'm not okay. Your smiles are doing things to my heart.

But she didn't say that. Of course she didn't.

"I'm great," she said, shoveling a spoon full of ice cream into her mouth. "Thank you for the ice cream. Next time, I'll treat you."

"How about next week... at the ice skating rink?" He asked her shyly, not quite meeting her eyes.

Gosh. Him being shy was really just the cutest thing.

"It's a date," she told him, waiting to see how he'd react.

His eyes widened, and he looked up at her. She giggled, her eyes sparkling in mischief. "What?" she teased. 

"Nothing," he murmured, looking flustered.

She wanted to tease him some more, but at that moment Jay walked in with Chaerin.

"Where did Keiko go?" She asked as they approached.

Chaerin took her spoon and had a bite of ice cream. Then another.

"Hey!" Nari protested.

"She had to pick up Niki, remember?" Chae said, ignoring her protests and taking another bite of ice cream.

Nari grabbed the spoon from Chae's hand.

"Go get your own ice cream," she said, pulling her bowl closer to herself, and away from Chaerin.

"Nah, I'm going to go home. Are you guys coming?" Chaerin asked, looking around at the three of them.

"I am," Jay said. "I wanna do some homework and then watch a movie with Leah."

"Leah?" Sunghoon asked, looking up at Jay.

"My girlfriend," Jay explained. "She lives overseas."

"Oh," Sunghoon said softly, a small smile coming to his face. "I didn't know you have a girlfriend," he continued, his gaze flickering over to Nari, so quick that she almost missed it.

Almost.

Did he think that she was dating Jay?

She felt herself blush yet again. Why? Why was she always blushing around Sunghoon?

"I should get going too," she said, standing up. Sunghoon followed her lead and stood up as well. "I want to help my mother with the shop."

Jay led the way out, talking to Chaerin about some history homework.

She walked behind them, side by side with Sunghoon. She felt the need to say something, anything, but she wasn't sure what.

"Thanks again for the ice cream," she whispered after a moment.

He smiled her. "Anytime."