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“You smell amazing.”

“I do?” She sounded mystified.  

“Cherry blossoms.”

“Oh!  It’s my shampoo.”

“I could breathe it in all day,” he sighed into her hair.

He was touching her!  He was holding her!  She leaned her cheek against his strong chest and closed her eyes, breathing in his own scent.  He smelled like the ocean on a bright summer day.  She had a sudden vision of them gliding along on a sailboat, the sun reflecting off the ocean in a thousand brilliant points of light.  She could feel the cool sea breeze brushing her cheek as the spray of the water leapt up to moisten her face.  She looked up at Jungkook to find him beaming down at her.  He reached out and gently caught a wisp of her hair in between his thumb and forefinger and slid it back behind her ear.  As he bent his head toward her, his eyes following his fingers, his mouth hovered over her own.  She could feel his breath sweet upon her lips.  Her heart began to race…

Jungkook pulled away from Hyejin reluctantly.  He wanted to hold her all day.

“Why weren’t you at the park?”

“I was just running late and suspected you might already be there.  Sorry I didn’t call you last night.  I ended up working late and then helping a friend with an emergency.”

He shrugged.  “It’s all right.”  

It’s not like I kept checking my phone every five minutes all night long.  Oh, wait!  Yes!  I did do that!

Instead of revealing those embarrassing thoughts, he continued, “I wanted to ask you something.  Are you doing anything around five o’clock Sunday afternoon?”

She pursed her lips in thought for a moment as she gazed up at the ceiling.  “I don’t think so.  Why?”  Her eyes came down to meet his own again.

“My friends are throwing me a surprise party.  It’s my birthday.”

“Sunday is your birthday?!”  She gave him a wide smile.  “How old will you be?”

“You mean, you didn’t look me up on the Internet?”

She’d been tempted to but for some reason the idea made her uneasy.  She shook her head.

He grinned crookedly as he glanced down at her dog, who was sitting at his feet.

“Ironically…” he paused for dramatic effect, “22.” 

The dog’s ears perked up.

“What?!” She burst out laughing.  Then she grinned wickedly.

“What?”  Why was he suddenly suspicious?

“Call me Noona then!”

“What?”

“I’m 23.”

Jungkook’s heart soared.  He’d always wanted to marry a girl older than him.  His parents had that kind of love story, and they were blissfully happy with each other.  If only this girl would pursue him as hard as his eomma had chased his appa.

Jungkook was grinning at her, revealing his adorable teeth.  

“What?” She asked.

He blinked.  “My eomma is older than my appa.”  He was still flashing those ivory teeth at her.

She smiled.  “Is she really?”  There was something ineffably sweet about the way Jungkook was looking at her.  It was drawing her in… 

Then his earlier words floated back to her.  “Did you say your friends are throwing you a surprise party?”

He nodded.

“Doesn’t sound like it’s much of a surprise…” She quirked her lips.

Jungkook wrinkled up his nose as he laughed.  “It’s not anymore.  I overheard Jimin and Tae discussing it yesterday morning.  Will you come with me?”  He was gazing at her so earnestly that she could tell her attendance was really important to him.

She nodded.  “But won’t my presence give away the fact that you knew you were headed to a party?”

He raised his shoulders before dropping them, trivializing her concern.  “They’re going to tell me it’s an emergency meeting with our manager.  I’ll just say we had previous plans, so I brought you along, assuming it wouldn’t take long.”

“Ok.”  She suddenly smiled so brightly at him that he felt as though the noon day sun had appeared in the middle of her living room.  “I’d love to come!  Thanks for inviting me.”  Then she felt instantly awkward.

Jungkook could read the uncertainty in her face.  “What’s wrong?”

“What are we going to tell them?  That I’m your friend and we met in the park this week?”

Hmm.  Yes, he’d been pondering this question himself for the last day.  He was afraid the guys would take one look at his face in her presence and immediately discern how much he truly liked her.

“I guess.  I mean, it is the truth.  And I’ve already gotten myself into way too much trouble this week not telling the whole truth.” He grimaced as his eyes met hers repentantly.

“Jungkook.”  She was gazing at him intently now.  “It’s ok.  I think I understand.”

“Do you?  Do you really?”

“Come on, let’s take Twenty-two for a walk, and you can tell me.”

He hung his head, not looking forward to this conversation.  How was he to explain to her why he hadn’t told her who he was when he was given the perfect opportunity several times?