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Because I already adore you.

Yoongi just stood there staring at her.  He wasn’t about to answer that question, so after a few moments he smiled and asked, “Are you ready to go?”

She glanced out into the pouring rain.  “Let’s have our first date now.”

“What?” His head came flying up, and his eyes grew wide.  Apparently, it was his turn to use their favorite phrase.

She thought of her mostly uneaten cinnamon roll.  The one she’d stuck in her purse.  The one that wasn’t filling her tummy.  “I’m hungry.  There’s a little bakery around the corner.  And maybe if we stay there long enough the rain will stop.”

Yoongi grinned at her.  Did she like him?  Or just the sweets?  “Come on then.  It’ll be my treat.”

She strode up to him, slipping her arm around his waist as she prepared for him to open the umbrella over their heads.  Together, they battled the elements again, but having a shorter distance to traverse this time, they arrived mostly unscathed at the tiny bakery.  The ding of a bell sounded as Yoongi threw the door open, releasing Mitsuko so that she could walk in ahead of him. He stepped through the doorway and then paused to shake out his umbrella and fold it up.

Mitsuko was already standing at the counter peering into the display case.  What to eat…what to eat?  Her eyes scanned the array of goodies.  She finally chose a sweet bread filled with cream.  Yoongi raised an eyebrow and then chuckled before ordering them both tea as well.

She glanced up at him.  “You don’t want anything?”

He shook his head.  “It’s not noon yet, remember?” He smiled sweetly at her.

She grinned as she recalled he was intermittently fasting.  Then she wandered over to a little table.  Yoongi rushed ahead of her to pull her chair out.

There it was again.  That foreign feeling of being cherished.  Like a warm blanket had suddenly descended from the sky and wrapped itself around her, its comforting heat penetrating her all the way down to the depths of her heart.  She glanced up at Yoongi and had to blink back a tear.

Yoongi saw that glistening drop in her eye.  It puzzled him.  Had she been so mistreated her whole life that the tiniest gesture of kindness so moved her heart?

He watched as she slipped into the chair.  Then he slid it closer to the table.  He grabbed a seat next to her.  He’d found he had enjoyed the closeness required of sharing an umbrella.  He didn’t want a table now separating him from her.  He turned his chair so that he faced her over a two-foot gap.  Then he simply smiled at her.

Mitsuko looked up at that precise moment and caught him smiling at her.  Her heart melted.  All the way down to her still chilly toes.  She cringed.  They were freezing.

Yoongi saw the distress on her face.  His smile vanished.  “What’s wrong?”

“My toes are so cold.”  Just then she shivered.

Yoongi shrugged his jacket off and stood up.  He walked around the back of her chair and settled his coat over her shoulders.

She turned her head to glance up at him in surprise.  “Yoongi!  Won’t you get cold?”

If I do, it will be a small price to pay to see you happy.

He simply shrugged.  “I’m fine.”

She slid her arms into his jacket as he sat down again.  But he noticed that she was still shivering.  He scooted his chair closer and bent over towards her, his fingers reaching out to grasp the jacket’s zipper.  He fitted the zipper’s insertion pin into its retainer box and pulled the zipper up all the way to just below her chin.

Mitsuko had sat mesmerized watching Yoongi’s graceful fingers as they took such loving care of her.  That beautiful hand had ascended from her waist to her throat, riding the zipper over her entire torso.  Then her eyes came to rest on his face, now a scant few inches from her own.  As the zipper came to a stop, Yoongi’s eyes rose to meet her own.  

Time stood still.  Neither of them breathed.  For a moment his eyes flickered toward her lips.  Her heart beat out a rapid tattoo.  Was he pondering kissing her?  Her eyes descended to his pretty mouth.  She imagined those sweet lips covering her own.  Involuntarily, her eyes closed.  

Yoongi smiled as he gazed at the striking beauty in front of him.  He really wanted to taste her lips.  She seemed prepared for such an occasion.  He’d watched a dazed look develop in her eyes right before she’d closed them.  They were still closed.  It was so tempting to kiss her right now.  He leaned towards her slowly.  Just a few more…