Chapter 17: Can I Kiss You Now?

Dahae was sitting outside of the Dean of Admissions' office. She tapped her foot silently as she waited for her father to come out. 

"Dahae."

"Dad!" Dahae quickly got to her feet, "What did they say?"

Dahae's dad gave her a stern look and took an envelope out of his suit pocket, "They said yes."

--

"Luhan, we're glad you came to stay the night. We haven't seen you in forever." Mrs. Byun said, placing a hot plate of food on the dinner table. 

"Thank you, it's nice to be here. But we have to go back tomorrow morning; we just came because Baekhyun invited us over." Luhan said, handing chopsticks to his daughter. It has been over a few weeks since Luhan and Haru were found. Haru's health has gotten a lot better, and is well enough to leave the treatment center. But the caretaker offered to just let Luhan and Haru continue to live with her until Luhan was able to find another apartment. There was a sound at the door and Baekhyun stood from his chair to see who it was. 

"Luhan, you have a visitor." Baekhyun called out. 

Confused, Luhan excused himself from the table and headed to the door, "Dahae, hi. What are you doing here?"

"I-is it ok if I talk to you outside?" Dahae bit her lip as she pointed her thumb behind her.

"I'll give you two some privacy," Baekhyun smirked as he pushed Luhan out of the house and closed the door. 

"What's up? Is something wrong?"

Dahae smiled; she couldn't contain her excitement, "I have really great news." She took out the envelope from her purse, "My dad had a meeting with the rest of the college board. Their meeting was about scholarships and...you are the first student to receive a full ride scholarship to Seoul University!"

"W-What??"

"All your tuition, books, classes, room and board--they're all covered by this scholarship." She handed the envelope to Luhan who ripped the top open to reveal the letter. 

"I-I can't believe this. I'm able to go back??" Luhan asked in disbelief. "Wait. But I don't think I'd be allowed to bring Haru to the dorms..."

"You can't," Dahae took a breath. "But, you're able to live in the nearby apartments that are still owned by the university. And there, Haru can live with you."

"This is...amazing."

Dahae smiled. She hasn't seen Luhan wear that big of a smile since...well ever. She had to beg her dad to bring up the topic of scholarships to the college board, and even when their proposal was approved to be heard, it still had to go through a long and tough process to actually get the scholarships approved. 

"I can't believe you did this for me. You must have pulled a lot of strings for this."

Dahae waved a dismissive, modest hand, "Whaaat? No, I didn't do anything. It--"

"Thank you so much," Luhan pulled Dahae to his chest ans squeezed her. Dahae wasn't able to hug back because her arms were in stuck in the middle of their bodies. She slowly looked up at Luhan who placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She let out a surprised gasped and widened her eyes. 

'What was that for?" Dahae asked shyly, once he released her. 

"Dahae do you want to have dinner with us too?" Baekhyun swung the door open, ruining the moment. 

--

"Are you sure that Luhan wouldn't mind us coming so unexpectedly?" Dahae asked as Baekhyun knocked furiously at Luhan's door. 

"Well he wasn't really mad when we unexpectedly showed up at the caretaker's home," Mijoo pointed out. 

"Anyway, he just moved into this new apartment a few days ago. It's practically mandatory for us to throw him a house warming party." Baekhyun added. 

"SURPRISE!" The three yelled as the apartment door opened. "Oh..." Their smiles fell once they saw the expression on Luhan's face. He had circles under his eyes and messy hair paired up with a death glare and scowl. 

"What are you guys doing here," He growled, eyeing the balloons and cake his uninvited guests brought. 

"We wanted to surprise you....surprise..." Mijoo awkwardly handed the balloons to Luhan. 

"What's up? Why do you look like that?" Baekhyun asked, slicing a piece of cake for everyone and an extra big piece for himself. 

"Ever since I got back, I had no time to unpack my things because I'm so behind in school work. I've been pulling all nighters and I can't remember the last time I took a nap." He pulled his hair in frustration. 

"Aw we're sorry for bothering you Luhan," Dahae mumbled. 

"No, don't be sorry," He took a deep breath, "I'm glad you came," He smiled and looked sheepishly at Dahae who smiled back at him. 

Mijoo faked a gag. "Only Dahae could make Luhan change his emotions that quickly," Baekhyun joked. 

Luhan and Dahae blushed as they continued to eat their cake. 

"Well if you want, I can help you with your work. Like you said, you have a lot to catch up on," Dahae suggested. 

Luhan shook his head, "No, I couldn't let you do tha--"

"That's a great idea, Dahae!" Baekhyun exclaimed. 

"Yeah, Baek and I were just about to leave anyway. So you will have more room to yourselves--to study." Mijoo grabbed Baekhyun by the collar and the two raced out of Luhan's apartment. 

Luhan and Dahae laughed awkwardly, knowing that they were set up by their friends. "So what's the first thing we should work on?" Dahae grabbed a textbook and opened it to a page.

--

"Are you feeling tired?" Dahae rested her head on her hand, hearing a yawn coming from Luhan. 

"No...ok maybe a little," Luhan answered, continuing to type his essay. 

"You should take a 10 minute break, you deserve it. I can type that up for you." Dahae offered. 

"I'll take a break if you take one with me," Luhan said. 

Dahae playfully rolled her eyes, "Alright. Only 10 minutes ok?"

"Dahae."

"Yeah?" Dahae turned her head to Luhan who was smiling at her. 

"I'm lucky to have met you."

Hearing those words suddenly come from Luhan made Dahae's cheeks turn a rosy pink. She couldn't reply because she was too busy covering her cheeks. 

"If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be that guy who everyone thinks is a huge asshole. Even Mijoo talks to me now and she's known me since high school."

"Don't say that about yourself. I never thought that you were an a...that thing." Dahae puffed her cheeks. 

"Don't lie. I bet you were thinking that when you first met me."

"No." Dahae started to protest, "Ok, maybe...But I didn't call you that exact word in my head."

Luhan laughed, "You're really something." 

Dahae could feel Luhan's presence nearing in on her. From the corner of her eye she could see Luhan leaning in. She let out a silent gasp as she felt Luhan move her hair out of her face. 

"Have you ever kissed anyone yet?" Luhan whispered, with his face close to Dahae's. 

Dahae held her breath and shook her head. Luhan placed his hand at the back of Dahae's neck and leaned in even closer. 

An obnoxious ringing noise came from Dahae's phone. Dahae backed away to stop the alarm. "Um...the 10 minute break is over."

--

"Thanks for staying and helping me finish my work." Luhan leaned against the door as Dahae was exiting. 

"You're welcome. It was um...nice being with you after not seeing your for almost 2 months." Dahae admitted, looking down at the wooden floor. "Tell Haru 'goodnight' for me."

"Wait Dahae," Luhan grabbed her hand before she could officially leave. "Since we finished the work faster than I thought...are you busy tomorrow?"

Dahae widened her eyes, "No, I don't think I'm doing anything."

Luhan smiled, "Good. I'll pick you up at your dorm tomorrow."

--

"Mijoo Mijoo Mijoo," Dahae panted as she practically ran into her dorm. 

"What did Luhan kiss you?" Mijoo smirked, placing down her magazine. 

Dahae blushed, "N-no he didn't kiss me! But he's taking me out tomorrow!" 

"He didn't kiss you?? You were at his apartment for so long though. Ugh, I guess Baek and I left for nothing."

"Well..." Dahae shifted back and forth on her heels. "He almost did."

"Well if it didn't happen tonight, then it will definitely happen tomorrow." 

"Wait, but I'm kind of nervous. I've never kiss anyone before and I know that he has a lot of "experience." I mean, he does have a daughter..."

Mijoo rolled her eyes, "Don't be nervous. You two obviously like eachother and if the kiss ends up being awkward then who cares? You try it again."

"Well I'm pretty sure nothing major will happen tomorrow anyway because Haru might be with us," Dahae assured herself.

--

 "Hi Luhan, where's Haru?"

"She's with Baekhyun today. I asked him if it was ok if he watched her while we went out."

"Oh, alright," Dahae nodded. 

"Are you ready to go?" Luhan took Dahae's hand and led her outside. 

"An amusement park? Are you sure?" Dahae was surprised with Luhan's choice of activities because she knew that the tickets for the park were really expensive. 

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun with you the last time we came but since we were with Haru, we weren't able to try any of the roller coasters. Now we can go on the bigger rides too."

"Great..." Dahae bit her lip as she and Luhan waited in line for their first ride. 

As their car reached the top of the rollercoaster, Dahae wrapped her arms around Luhan's. Once the ride dropped she burried her face into his sweater, getting that gut wrenching feeling you get when you go down the ride. 

 "I'm having so much fun!" Luhan stretched his arms, coming out of the ride. "We went on almost every roller coaster in the park."

"Mhm," Dahae mumbled, covering her mouth with her left hand, keeping the other on her stomach. 

"Are you ok, Dahae?" Luhan held Dahae's shoulders and looked at her face. 

"I'm fine. Let's go to the next ride," Dahae waved her hand and began walking towards another line. 

"Dahae..."Luhan said warningly, making Dahae confess. 

"O-ok. I don't feel so well. Can we take a break from roller coasters for now?"

Luhan laughed, "You should have told me you didn't like roller coasters. I woudn't have forced you to go on so many. I'm sorry. Here, let's sit down."

"No, the park is about to close. We have to go on at least one more ride." 

"But you're not feeling well; let's take a seat on the bench." Luhan placed Dahae's arm arouns his shoulder and held her waist to support her. 

"But there's one ride I wanted to go on--and we can sit at the same time too." Dahae suggested. 

---

"You really like ferris wheels, huh?" Luhan smiled, watching Dahae press her face against the window of their cart like a little kid, looking out onto the scenery below them. 

"It's my favorite ride. I love when it gets to the top and just stops. Then I can get the perfect view of the park at night." Dahae placed her hands together in anticipation. It was almost their turn for their cart to reach the top of the ferris wheel. "Look down there, there's the parade."

"I can't see it," Luhan said. 

"It's right there." Dahae tapped on the window. The parade was long and obvious enough for anyone to see. 

"I'll move over there so I can see it better," Luhan stood opposite of Dahae and sat next to her on her side of the cart. 

"Can you see it now?" Dahae turned her head slightly to the right and saw Luhan face in very close proximity, right above her shoulder. She widened her eyes and subtly tried to scoot away from Luhan. 

He placed his hand above hers and scooted closer. "A few days ago, did you know that I was going to kiss you?"

Dahae widened her eyes even more. Of course she knew that they were about to kiss but she shook her head no. 

"Do you want me to kiss you now?" Luhan asked in a soft voice, staring down at Dahae's lips. 

She closed her eyes shut and pursed her lips into a thin line. Now that it was actually going to happen, Dahae wasn't sure if she was ready. She could feel Luhan nearing closer and closer on her. Suddenly she felt his lips press up against her. She opened her eyes and covered her mouth with her fist; he placed his lips softly on Dahae's forehead. Dahae's heart rate slowed down once she realized that Luhan didn't kiss her on the lips. He placed his hand behind her neck and moved his lips down and kissed her on the cheek. She closed her eyes again when she felt Luhan gently grab her wrist and pulled her hand away from her mouth. 

She held her breath and her hands tensed up into fists. The actual kiss lasted for about 4 seconds. During that time, Dahae was afraid that Luhan could feel her face getting hot. Finally he pulled away and ran his thumb across Dahae's bottom lip and gave a lazy smile. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."