Media:
Song Inspiration #1
PERFECT - One Direction
Cover by Aries Solstice (demigxddess)

XIII

The boys didn't really have their party 'cause Jaemin wasn't prepared to host a party that evening but they did enjoy watching movies together and binge eating. The boys did help clean up the mess they made after having their movie marathon.

They wanted to have a sleepover but Jaemin didn't allow it since he's been receiving text messages from Johnny telling him not to allow them to sleep at his home and the boys understood that.

"I'm really sorry guys. I have to abide with Johnny hyungs' rule." Jaemin said as he bids them good bye, Ryujin was standing next to him beside the door.

"It's okay. We can have sleepovers at Jeno's place next week." Haechan suggested.

Jeno averted his gaze at him. "Well, I have to ask my mom first." he said.

Haechan clicked his tongue. "I'm sure your mom will agree, your mom likes us! We're good influence." Haechan said confidently. They all chuckled with what Haechan said, but he did have a point.

"Good night, guys. Thank you for this evening. Drive home safely." Jaemin said to them.

"Good night, men. Thanks for this great evening." Mark gave him a fist bump and everyone greeted good bye to both Jae and Ryu.

Jeno was the last to bid good bye. "Good night, bro." he even gave Jaemin a hug, he was the only one to hug him.

"Good night." Jaemin smiled as he hugged him back. Jeno broke apart from their hug and his eyes landed at Ryu.

"Good night, Ryujin." said Jeno and he waved at her "good bye". Jaemin glanced upon Ryujin and she was smiling sweetly back at Jeno.

She said. "Good night, Jeno oppa. Take care."

———

Since it was already 12 am when the boys left, Ryu and Jae decided to go to their rooms and sleep but before Ryujin could enter her room, Jaemin called her.

"Ryujin?"

"Hmm?" she looked back and saw Jaemin catching up with her from the stairs.

They met gaze and Jaemin told her. "Ryu, I am sorry about the boys coming here unexpectedly. I did not know they were —"

"No, it's okay oppa, no need to explain." she cut his sentence. Ryujin also smiled and said. "I'm glad to finally meet your friends."

Jaemin smiled and said. "Really?"

She nodded. "You have amazing friends, they're all funny and nice especially Jeno oppa."

The smile on his face slowly vanished when she mentioned Jeno. "Oh... y-yah... Jeno." he chuckled lightly and awkwardly.

"Jeno is... my b-bestfriend. He's really humble and nice and... I've known him since I was in kinder." he told her.

"Oh..." she nodded. "Explains why you two are so close with each other."

"Yeah." Jaemin nodded.

All of a sudden, Ryujin asked. "Does Jeno oppa have a girlfriend right now?"

Jaemin's eyes shoot open and he gulped before answering. "Uh... no, I think he's not... he has never been in a relationship before... he's not really into dating or seeing anyone." he explained to her. He found it strange that Ryu would ask if Jeno had a girlfriend.

"Oh, I see." she replied.

"W-why'd you ask?"

"Nothing really, I just thought that if he has a  girlfriend, she would be very lucky to have Jeno oppa. That's all." she explained.

"Ah... I see." Jaemin replied but the tone of his voice sounded saddened or something. Jaemin even added. "His future girlfriend will definitely be the luckiest to have him."

———

Next day...

Jaemin arrived home at around 7pm that day after completing his enrollment for the upcoming school year, he also headed out to meet his friends that day. Meanwhile, Ryujin worked that day at the milkshake bar.

When he arrived the light were already turned on, meaning to say that Ryujin was already home from work.

He went immediately to the kitchen to get a glass of water but then he spotted Ryujin sitting on one of the stool at the dining area next to the kitchen. Her head was rested on her arm that was stretched on the table.

At first, he panicked. "Ryujin?" he went closer to her and when he checked her, he realized that Ryujin was asleep.

She was still wearing her uniform from the diner, had her bag on the chair, papers scattered on the table as she was calculating her expenses and the money she needed to enroll this school year.

Just by looking at her, you could tell she looked very exhausted from work that's why she had fallen asleep. Imagine working from 6 am 'til 6 pm at a very busy diner in town.

Jaemin saw what she wrote and based on her calculations, her savings was still not enough for her to pay the school fees needed for this school year.

Jaemin, like all of us, pitied her. He could not imagine the stress, pressure and exhaustion building up in her system as she juggles studying and working while also dealing with financial problems.

She was so young yet she had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulder but she was very hardworking and persistent, that alone made Jaemin really proud of her.

"I'm really sorry, Ryujin..." he whispered only for him to hear as he watches her.

He decided to tap her shoulder to wake her up, so she could sleep in her room.

"Ryu, wake up, Ryujin?" he tapped on her shoulder lightly but she wasn't waking up.

"Ryujin? I'm... I'm sorry for ruining your sleep but... I think you need to go to your room?" he told her calmly.

Ryujin did move a little but she didn't open her eyes and she just moved her head to the other side, away from Jaemin.

Jaemin sighed and thought... "it's no use".

He repeatedly tried to tap her shoulder but she didn't wake up. Jae can't just leave her there to sleep, it was cold and her sitting position was very uncomfortable.

Jaemin sighed. "What should I do?" he whispered.

He first organized and cleaned her belongings, he placed her stuffs inside her bag, zipped the bag and he took one strap of the bag and placed it on his shoulder.

He looked at Ryujin and he asked himself. "What now?"

There was only one way to get her to her room but Jaemin was hesitant, however, he can't just leave her there to sleep.

So he huffed and then he gently placed his hands on her back for support. "Ryu? Wake up." he called in the process, hoping she'd wake up.

She wasn't waking up howeverso he just continued lifting her head up from the table. He was having a rough time because he didn't want to hurt her so he had to be gentle.

She got her to sit up straight but her head instantly fell into his direction. "Ooh!" he whimpered when Ryujin's head hit his chest, now her face was a little close to his.

He secured his left arm on her back and he placed his other arm on the back of his knees and he carefully lifted her up from her seat, using all of his strength.

Yes, he carried her in bridal carry.

"Ah damn." he huffed once he successfully carried her in his arms, his arms were trembling that time. She wasn't that heavy actually, it was her bag that was making things more burdensome for Jaemin.

The sleeping Ryujin seemed unbothered and Jae even felt her rubbing her cheeks on his warm hoodie as if she was making herself more comfortable in his arms.

Just by looking at her angelic face, Jaemin felt his heart brace swiftly and his stomach felt like it's going crazy again.

He inhaled deeply then exhaled and he whispered. "Not this feeling again."

———

Jaemin went up stairs and he was very cautious of each step he took, careful not to step on something or miss a step or drop Ryujin.

He finally reached the guest's room and he used his foot to kick the door open. He entered her room, switched the lights on, and he gently placed her on her bed. Then, he placed her bag on her chair and went back to her bed to cover her with blankets.

He reached for her blanket at the edge of her bed, he covered the blanket on her feet first and dragged it to cover the rest of her body but when she was covering her upper body, Ryujin suddenly woke up decided to sit up straight.

Their gaze met as their faces were an inch apart, if Jae had moved a little futher, their faces would've touched already. Both of them had a surprised look on their faces and none of them spoke for a brief second until Ryujin called. "O-oppa?"

Jaemin snapped out of his senses and immediately let go of the blanket and moved away. "Oh, I-I'm sorry... I... spaced out a bit." he said, holding unto his nape.

Ryujin finally sat up properly and she seemed like she was analyzing how she got to her room.

"I don't remember... heading to my room. I was at the..."

Jaemin cut her sentence. "You fell asleep at the dining area."

"I did?" she was shock. "Oh my gosh, I never realized I had already fallen asleep."

"You must be very exhausted from work that's why you didn't noticed you had already fallen asleep." Jaemin said and she nodded.

"Well, today was indeed exhausting." Ryu said.

Then she wondered. "Wait? How did I end up in my room? If I slept at the dining area."

"I carried you to your room since I couldn't wake you up earlier." Jaemin explained to her.

She gasped. "Huh? You did? Oh dear. Oppa, I'm so so sorry you had to carry me to my room. I'm awfully sorry."

"It's okay, Ryujin." Jaemin said and he sat on the chair next to her bed.

She worried. "Was I... too heavy? I'm really sorry." she placed her hand on her mouth, looking guilty.

Jaemin shook his head. "No, no... you weren't that heavy. Trust me."

"I'm really sorry." she said.

"You shouldn't be, Ryu. I am more concerned about you. Take care of yourself and don't exhaust yourself too much." he told her.

Ryujin nodded. "It's just that... I badly need money for my school fees that's why I'm really working extra hard."

"I know and I am here to help you Ryu, you don't need to compromise your well-being. Your health is more important than anything." he explined to her.

She nodded to him and smiled. "Thank you for your advice oppa, from now on, I'll look after myself too."

Jaemin nodded to her as well. "I think you better take your rest now. We still need to attend work at the flower shop tomorrow. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day for us, I'm sure."

"I'll take my rest after I take my warm shower. I know I smell like blue cheese now." she said and both of them chuckled.

"Okay okay. Take your shower then go to bed. If you need anything, just call me. I'll be in my room." he said to her and Ryujin nodded.

"Good night oppa."

"Good night, Ryujin."

———

* The next day...

Today was indeed a busy day at the flower shop because today is Valentine's day.

"Wow, there's a lot of customer today." Jaemin commented as he peeked at the windows of the shop before they could open the shop.

"Well, it is Valentine's day and flowers are the most common gift during this day." Ryujin said.

Jaemin sighed. "This is going to be exhausting."

But Ryu looked at her and said. "Don't worry, oppa. We're going to work together, we can handle this! Fighting!"

Jaemin smiled back at her and said. "Fighting!"

———

The flower shop had been crowded of people buying and ordering flowers, the two were in charge of designing and arranging these flowers into a bouquet.

Jaemin was sweating so much from all the work they were doing even though there was air conditioning at their workplace.

While Jaemin was busy wrapping up flowers, he suddenly felt a paper towel patted on the side of his forehead. He paused and gently look to his side and saw Ryujin with the paper towels.

Jaemin suddenly smiled awkwardly at her. "What are you doing?" she asked Ryujin.

Ryujin said. "Oppa, beads of sweats have been forming on your forehead so I help dry it."

"Oh really?" Jaemin suddenly got concious so he grabbed a paper towel too to wipe his sweat away.

"Thanks, Ryujin." he said to her. And then he noticed. "You're sweating so much too."

Before Ryu could say anything, Jaemin had already used a clean paper towel to pat dry the sweat on her face. She immediately smiled back at him. "Thank you, oppa."

"You're welcome."

Then a lady infront faked cough to catch their attention and said. "Excuse me, are my flowers ready?" she asked.

Jae and Ryu both averted their gaze at her, they forgot that there was a customer right infront of them. They forgot that there was a customer waiting for her bouquet of flowers.

"Oh, yes ma'am. The flowers are ready. Here you go." Jaemin handed the bouquet of flowers to the customer.

"Thank you so much, young man." the woman said.

"You're welcome, ma'am and sorry for keeping you waiting." Jaemin said.

"Aww. It's okay, you two are a very lovely couple. Stay in love. Bye bye." the customer left even before the two could say anything.

Jaemin and Ryujin had their mouths agape as she left and they looked at each other awkwardly and then Ryu just started laughing so Jaemin laughed along with her.

"Just another day at work." Ryujin commented while both of them are chuckling.

It's not the first time that they were mistaken as a couple at work. It happens all the time.

———

While they were busy at the flower shop, Jaemin couldn't help but notice Ryujin staring at a guy who had just bought flowers from the shop, supposedly giving those flowers to his girlfriend.

Jaemin approached Ryu and asked. "Hey, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Oh uh..." she snapped out of her thoughts. "Yah, I'm fine, I was just..."

"You were looking at that guy?" Jaemin teased her and he smiled cheekishly.

"What? No, I wasn't." Ryujin laughed awkwardly at him.

"I saw you were." Jaemin said to her. He even asked her. "You think the guy is cute, don't you?" he asked jokingly.

Ryujin agape her mouth. "Oh my gosh! No. I wasn't thinking about that..." he lightly slapped his arms and Jaemin just laughed it off.

"Why were you looking at him?" he asked curiously.

"I just... I just..." she sighed, she was too shy to tell Jaemin.

"What is it?" Jaemin asked her again.

She shut her eyes for a sec and looked Jae in the eyes and said. "This may be a little embarassing for me to explain but... I've never ever experienced receiving flowers from a special somone."

Jae's facial expression changed upon hearing that. "Oh... but Johnny hyung? He never gave you flowers?"

Ryujin shook her head. "He has never but... I am okay with that, I am not demanding him to go buy me one to prove to me how much he loves me. I'm not really materialistic."

"I'm just... curious how it would feel to be gifted flowers on Valentine's by a special someone but... I guess, I'll never know but it's okay. I'm not really... expecting anyways, just curious." said Ryujin.

"Ah..." Jaemin just nodded to her. He felt awkward for asking her in the first place.

"Is it weird that I'm curious?" she asked him.

Jaemin shook his head. "No, not at all. I mean, I understand... I've never experienced gifting anyone on Valentine's day either so... it's a tie." he said to make Ryu feel better and they both chuckled.

"Really? You haven't surprised any girl on Valentine's day? Not even your crush?" she asked.

Jaemin shook his head. "No, I haven't. I'm not really into... you know, romance and all that, cliché stuff, you know what I mean." Jaemin rubbed his nape as he explained it awkwardly.

"I understand, oppa." she just nodded.

Then Jae said. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that in the future to come, you'll het to experience all that with the right guy. Just be patient."

———

After work at the flower shop, the exhausted Ryujin still needs to head to the diner to work for night shift.

"Do you want me to accompany you to your work?" Jaemin asked after closing the flower shop.

"No oppa, no need. I can go by myself but thank you for your offer." she said.

"Are you sure?" Jaemin asked.

She nodded. "I'll just take a bus to go to the diner."

Jaemin nodded. "Okay, good bye. I'll be going home now to take a rest. I'm extremely exhuasted today."

"Me too but I need to work."

Jaemin then said. "Take care at work and make sure you take your rest once you come back home."

She nodded. "I