8th ∞

About a week ago, I had accepted the fact that Mingyu's name was the name that had been written on my heart. We already made known each other's feelings, but I was still a little scared. What if he would leave when I finally got attached to him? I was scared of getting hurt again. 

But I wanted him to be with me. I was scared, but I was willing to risk it. I wanted to be with him and maybe he felt the same way? Summer love wasn't on my list at first but as time slowly passed, I accepted that it had been written on my list without me knowing it. And yet, that made me smile. 

It was yet another normal day for me and it was spent with Mingyu on the phone. 

"So, what are you doing now?" Mingyu asked on the other line. I had put him on speaker since I was doing other things in real life. 

"Trying to do the laundry," I replied, grabbing all my dirty clothes and putting it into a hamper. "I hope I don't mess this up, or I'll need to replace my entire wardrobe." 

"Want me to come over and help you? I know where you live after all," Mingyu said. 

How long will Mingyu continue to surprise me? First, he can fix the air conditioner and now he can do the laundry? He was starting to become more husband material day by day. 

I lightly laughed and brought my phone with me to the small laundry room. "No, Mingyu. I have to learn these things on my own or I'll never survive by myself in the university dorm."

"But you'll waste a lot of money if you mess up now," Mingyu told me, sounding worried. 

"I can just ask you if I don't know what to do. You know how to do the laundry?"

"Yeah, I help around with the laundry every now and then. Aren't I a great boyfriend, Yeoreum?"

I ignored his last sentence and went back to trying to do the laundry. "Do I just dump all these clothes in the washing machine, throw in some detergent and hope for the best?"

"No!" Mingyu screamed on the other line, scaring me a little. "You'll mess up the colours. That's the basic know-it, Yeoreum!"

"Gosh! You gave me a heart attack!" I exaggerated. "So... what exactly do I do?"

"Separate the white from the colours," Mingyu smartly told me. Okay, he was the genius here. "Which university are you going to?"

I did as told, then replied, "Sungkyunkwan University."

"Oh," Mingyu answered, "if only I got accepted to that university. I'm going to Kyung Hee University instead. We can still meet up once summer ends, right?"

"I'm hoping?"

"I'll take that as a yes." Mingyu ended it at that.

"Okay, wait, I think I messed up with the laundry..." I paused and looked at my clothes in the hamper. 

Mingyu laughed on the other line. "Clumsy you, Yeoreum. Are you sure you don't need help? I can swing by and help you."

"Where's my face if I made you do my laundry?" I picked up my other dirty clothes. "I'll figure it out on my own, Kim Mingyu."

"You sure?"

Not really. "Yup."

"Okay. Back to what we were talking about. Will you be busy once you're in university?" Mingyu asked. 

"Maybe," I answered, giving up on my laundry. I should just make myself a snack, so I took my phone with me and entered the kitchen. "How about you?"

"I'll try to make time for you," Mingyu answered. I could feel his smirk even from this end of the line. "You'll do the same, won't you?"

"Gee, this conversation is starting to sound like we're parting ways," I jokingly said, but part of me believed that it might come true. 

"You know I won't do that."

I hope I can learn to believe and trust in his words. 

"You there, Yeoreum?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my daydream and looked at what was in front of me and took note of where I was. "Oh, Mingyu. Sorry, I kind of... got busy there for a second. Making myself a snack. What meat should I add?"

"Did you give up on doing your laundry already?" Mingyu was chuckling on the other end. "Guess you can't survive on your own. Better bring me along to your dorm so I can help you. And chicken is the best for when making a sandwich."

I was surprised he knew what I was making. I mean, I would make gimbap but I had to cook rice, get the other ingredients ready and it wasn't as simple as you thought it would be. "How did you know I was—"

"Lucky guess. I'm making myself a sandwich at the moment too. I'd go for ramyun, but my mom bought some bread so I thought why not?"

I smiled to myself. "What an odd coincidence."

"You can say that when two people are fated, everything else becomes a coincidence for them. Or is it fate playing on us again?" I could picture Mingyu smirking. "Now do you believe in fate, Yeoreum?"

Teasing him, I replied, "Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?" Mingyu asked, sounding hurt on the other line. "Stop hurting my feelings, Lee Yeoreum."

"I'll leave it to your imagination then," I said as a reply.

"You always say that."

I began preparing the ingredients for my sandwich. Hopefully I won't give up on this, too. "What can I say, Kimmin?"

"What?" Mingyu seemed to be confused on the other line, but I heard him chuckle a little. "What did you just call me? Kimmin?"

I was smiling even more I could be mistaken as some idiot. "What? It saves time. Kim of Kim Mingyu and Min of Mingyu. Kimmin."

"So... does that mean you're giving me a new nickname? You're not calling me Mr. Destiny anymore?" Mingyu always found a way to tease me. 

"Mingyu, I hate to break it to you, but I never called you Mr. Destiny." Way to burst his bubble. But I love how we always seem to tease each other. I found it adorable. 

"What? Then what have you been calling me the entire time? Wasn't it Mr. Destiny?"

I coughed. "It was Mr. Desti-not, Kim Mingyu. You always insisted we were destiny but I didn't think so, so I switched it around. Word play. And all."

"Hing," he said on the other line.

I reacted to that by flinching. "What was that sound?"

"What sound?" Mingyu asked. 

"That sound. The one that sounded like my grandma accidentally peed in the living room," I specified. 

"I feel offended."

I tried to hold in my laughter. "That was you?"

"Who else? My cat?" he asked skeptically.

"You have a cat?"

"No, that's the point! Tsk!"

Sometimes I wonder how he was a year older than me when he usually acts like he was younger. But it was charming. "Okay, calm down. Geez, you act like you're seven."

"Does that make you my mom?" he asked in a kid-like voice. How was he able to pull that off without sounding cringe worthy?

"Hanging up, then," I concluded. 

"Wait, no!" Mingyu screamed on the other line. 

I smiled to myself again. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to stop talking to you."

At that very moment, everything in my body immediately froze as I took a moment to process what he had just said. Was this a dream? It felt like it was. For once, this reality seemed prettier, sweeter and greater than my dreams. It felt as if I rode on my dreams and disappeared to a whole new world—an even better one, in fact.

For once, it felt right. I know, everyone says that about every love story they're in, but isn't that was it's like at first? Before everything starts crumbling down. Before the fights, the hurtful words and actions. Before everything pretty shatters and gets dressed in darkness.

There's something about love I can't help but notice. It's the way it made us hate it in one moment, then love it the next. It's like riding a see-saw. One moment, you're up in the clouds and next, you've hit rock bottom.

"You still there, Yeoreum?"

Every single second spent with Kim Mingyu started to become more and more precious. I was glad it was his name that was written on my heart, and not anyone else. It's hard to get someone to believe in something they hate, but Mingyu had a specialty. 

And from that day onward, I felt myself want to get involved in his world more and more. It was the most magical feeling ever.

∞~∞~∞

Mingyu suggested a movie date three days later. He suggested it while we were having our daily phone calls that I grew to anticipate every time I wake up in the morning. 

One more week until my family returns. I wasn't sure what would be different, but I had a feeling my parents would question me a lot regarding Mingyu. They would ask who he was, how he was treating me and our relationship together. I wouldn't have as much privacy as before. But I was excited for their return.

I waited by the entrance of the mall which had a movie cineplex. The weather today was rather tolerable since it was rather cloudy out. I was happy with the weather today and how it wasn't that hot. At least I knew it wouldn't ruin the citrus smell I had with the sweat I would produce if it was hot out.

What? I was meeting Mingyu. I wanted to at least smell nice for him. 

I looked around cautiously and found myself getting used to people passing by. That, or I've gotten really good in ignoring them and ignoring the thought of people that might be watching me and judging. Must be one of Mingyu's effect, once again.

These days, ever since Mingyu saved me that day from Jaehyun, I grew less scared of knowing he would jump out of simply anywhere and try to win me back. Maybe I was finally stronger with a new name written on my paper heart. 

"Oh, you're here already!" a voice said, sounding surprised. 

I turned around and found Mingyu dressed casually but nicely with his hair still looking wet—either because he sweated on the way here or he had just got out of the shower. He smelled nice, so it was most likely the latter. 

I smiled and pushed my hair, tucking it behind my ear. "You're here."

"Were you waiting long?" Mingyu asked, coolly filling the empty space beside me before we entered the mall.

I shook my head. "Not that long."

"I wanted to smell nice, so I took a good shower," Mingyu told me, grinning as if he was proud. 

"Glad to know you put in effort for me," I said, grinning back. I wondered if he noticed that I made an effort to smell nice too. 

"What movie should we watch today?" Mingyu asked as we walked to the cineplex. Different movie posters were pasted on the walls. 

I pointed at a new movie that was showing. "That one. It's romance comedy. I read its synopsis and found it interesting."

Mingyu also pointed at the same movie poster I was pointing at. "That one? A fan of romance and comedy, aren't you?"

I shyly looked away and nodded. "Yeah, I mostly enjoy comedy and romance. Not a fan of action that much and I definitely don't like horror movies."

At the mention of that, Mingyu immediately had a smirk on his face. "Oh, so Yeoreum doesn't like horror movies?"

I lightly punched his arm and told him, "Don't get any funny ideas, Kim Mingyu or I won't ever meet you ever again. We'll become strangers."

"Oh, but that's hard when I know your phone number and your apartment address," Mingyu teased. 

Dang it, why did I have to make him fix my air conditioning? He wouldn't have known of my address then. 

Feeling defeated, I gave up on that conversation and watched as Mingyu bought tickets for us. Once he was done, we moved on to the cinema snack bar to purchase some popcorn. 

The staff asked with a smile, "A couple set?"

I glanced at Mingyu for a second, flustered by the question. 

Mingyu smiled in return and nodded at the staff. "Yes, how much would that be?"

"6, 300 won," the staff replied. Mingyu handed the staff the money and in return, they prepared our couple set popcorn and drinks and said, "Thank you."

Mingyu handed it to me and smiled. "You take care of our child."

"Child?" I asked, blinking whilst looking confused. "What do you mean our child?"

Mingyu didn't answer; he only sheepishly smiled before he went along without me. 

"Yah! Wait! Kim Mingyu!" I quickly caught up to him. 

Mingyu was walking ahead of me, and I followed after him like a child. Then he suddenly stopped walking, making me bump into his back. Then he turned around and leaned closer in. "How come you'll never call me oppa? I'm a year older than you, after all."

"H-huh?" I was suddenly flustered again. "Call you what?"

"You're eighteen," Mingyu pinched one side of my cheek, then when he pinched the other cheek, he said, "and I'm nineteen. So you have to call me oppa."

"What if I don't want to?" I teased, trying and hoping that it would change the subject. Calling him oppa will once again remind me of Jaehyun, and I really wanted to stop remembering him whilst I was with Mingyu. I noticed that I've been doing that a lot lately. 

"Then it's fine! That just means you feel comfortable around me and like my name so much you call it more than calling me oppa," Mingyu said, winking. 

Right. Well, Mingyu had his own mind and imaginations. I clacked my tongue and said, "Ah."

"Oh, our movie's starting now!" Mingyu noticed the cinema room that was now opened and coolly held my hand, surprising me for a second there. He had a teasing smile on his lips, but he didn't turn to glance at me. It looked to me that he was happy about holding my hand. "We should go in now."

Those little things that he does to me were getting to me and making me smile even more everyday. Even when I'm not with him, a small thought of him or his gestures will make me turn into an idiot smiling to herself. 

I was being one right now.

The more I spend my summer my time with him, the more I found myself falling in love with this season I used to dislike very much. 

~Author's Notes~

What ship name should they have, Kimichies? #YeoGyu? #MinReum? #MinYeo? #YeoMin? Comment if you have any better ship names! :) And, two more chapters to go ^o^

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung