That was how I found myself agreeing to crash someone else's date a week later.

"How can I be sure you aren't just some jerk playing girls?" I boldly asked him on the phone on the day of the event, if we could call it that way.

I was in my bedroom curling my hair into beachy waves. On my bed, I'd laid out a knockout dress that enhanced all my assets, along with the most complementary jewelry. I'd already done my full face of makeup, which meant I was already pretty committed to the cause at a glance, but I could just as easily pull out and call up the girls for an impromptu bingo night.

"It's a fair question," Tae Yang's voice came from my phone's loud speaker. He too was at home getting ready for his big date. "Why don't you observe us from a nearby table? If you determine I'm just being a player, you can walk right out and leave me to suffer."

"And if I do that, no hard feelings?" I asked.

"None," he assured me.

The truth was I had nothing better to do on this Saturday afternoon. Leyna and her boyfriend were on a weekend trip to Miami. Tonight also wasn't our regular bingo night, so Quinta and Dawn probably had other plans. Meanwhile, Mom was binge watching Jane the Virgin for the fourth time.

Sighing, I said, "Fine, I'll see you later then."

So far, I hadn't seen anything indicating Tae Yang was cut from the same cloth as Bryce or any of my other exes, who were absolute turds on legs. But then again, I'd once been blind to their faults. It was why I had to make sure this was the right thing, before contributing to ruin some girl's night.

Hours later and like some 007 wannabe, I sneaked into the Winter Park restaurant earlier than my planned entrance and steered the waiter to a table near where Tae Yang's and his date.

He looked good in a simple white button shirt. The sleeves were rolled up, showing a lot of arm muscle as he lifted a glass of water to his lips. He'd styled his hair and for once didn't wear a cap. The array of ear piercings in his ear glinted under the lamp above the table.

Damn him, he looked edible.

Meanwhile, the person across from him was a pretty, half Korean girl. She wore a tight, lilac dress that, while the color didn't suit her complexion, did good things for her figure. She flipped her long hair a lot and when she wasn't doing that, she would constantly reach for his hand. It turned out, that was why he kept drinking water—to keep them out of reach.

"What would you like to order?" the waiter asked as he appeared between me and my observation subjects.

"Oh, um." I looked at the menu and could've laughed. It was upside down. "I need a few minutes."

"No problem, I'll be back!"

As he left, I shifted to the opposite seat. This way I sat with my back to Tae Yang and the girl, but closer enough I could catch some of their conversation.

"I would love to introduce you to my dog tonight," she was saying, which was a pretty straightforward code for inviting him home. "I'm sure you'd make such a great dad for her."

Whoa.

Somewhat hiding behind the menu, I turned around to see Tae Yang's face. It was pinched in a way that clearly showed distaste.

"Er, like I said, we can't continue meeting because I have a girlfriend."

"You're lying." She tossed her hair again. "I haven't seen any of that in the news."

The what? Did she say the news? Why would that even—

Alright, it was clear to me now that this girl didn't quite have all her screws in place. As she leaned forward over the table and put her hands around Tae Yang's horrified face, I figured he really needed rescue.

I grabbed my purse and bolted to the door. The waiter called out to me but I didn't listen. My heart was pounding. I had precious seconds, if I wasn't too late already. I took a deep breath, fluffed my hair and lowered the cleavage of my dress just a bit before pushing the restaurant doors open.

The same waiter waited for me at the entrance and I gave him a wink. He was about to witness a scene.

As if this were the Miss Venezuela stage, I catwalked in the way I knew drove every straight man crazy. Every step set off a chain reaction. My hips swayed. My boobs bounced. My hair did too. Since I wore killer heels, my calves no doubt looked out of this world. The dress I'd put on was a navy figure hugging sheath showing plenty of cleavage and leg, some of the most lethal in my arsenal.

Since Tae Yang sat facing the door, he was the one who spotted my entrance. He'd put his hands over his mouth to prevent the girl's attack and all I could see was his bulging eyes follow my approach. The way his attention focused solely on me, finally made the girl turn around to find the source of his distraction.

"Mi amor," I called out, waving a hand prettily. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Tae Yang jumped out of skin—and out of his seat. He took a deep breath right as I wrapped my arms around him. In my ear he whispered, "Oh, thank God."

His heart beat so hard I could feel the drumming against my chest. I rubbed his back and whispered back, "Noona's got you."

When I pulled away, he was biting down a smile.

"Who the hell are you?" the girl asked.

I turned, slowly, making sure to stay in Tae Yang's embrace to send a clear signal. Even though in heels I was a lot taller than him, I leaned my head on his shoulder and said, "Hi, I'm Tae Yang's girlfriend."

The girl looked me up and down. "Are you sure?"

I gave a weak laugh. What kind of question was that? If I said so and he wasn't denying it, it should be pretty clear, right? Never mind it wasn't the least bit true.

I pinched his back and Tae Yang jolted. "Yeah, we're sure she's my girlfriend."

The girl folded her arms. "I don't believe you. My parents said he was single and I haven't seen proof otherwise."

Yikes, what a situation.

Clearing my throat, I motioned at myself and said, "Well, here is your proof."

She rolled her eyes. "You're saying you're The Choi Tae Yang's girlfriend and you greet him with a hug? Are you sure you're not just someone he hired off the streets to make me jealous?"

The way I felt him tense up beside me reminded me I should stay put and not react violently to the barely subtle implication. And even though we were one hundred percent lying to her, it wasn't to make her jealous. She really was someone who thought kissing guys without their consent was fine.

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't talk to my girlfriend that way," Tae Yang said through gritted teeth. I put my hand over his chest as much to calm him down as to allow myself a second to think something not murderous.

Lowly, so hopefully only he could hear, I said, "We need to show her hard proof."

Tae Yang turned to me, his dark eyes flashing with anger. And while I felt the same, there was another feeling making its way to the cocktail of emotions in my belly. I lowered my eyes to his lips before looking back up. As he blinked at me, I knew he'd caught the hint.

I was crazy. For agreeing to this whole thing. For being excited when Tae Yang shifted his body to face me. For the way my skin broke into goosebumps when he held the side of my face and angled it down. But more importantly, for the way I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him flush against me.

Gloria al bravo pueblo, que el yugo lanzó...

The first bars of the Venezuelan anthem rang in my head as our lips met. The rousing orchestra about glory and honor was the perfect backdrop to lose my mind to.

Because that was exactly what was happening here. I'd sworn myself off of men. I'd promised Mom I was done with them. I was tired of being played and tossed aside, of having my hopes lifted and getting my heart broken instead. I was done with looking for a love like the one my parents had, a connection that could keep me going for the rest of my life.

But all of those promises went to the back of my mind as Tae Yang wrapped one arm around my waist.

His lips were unbelievably soft as they caressed mine, coercing them open in one easy sweep. I groaned, not just because the hot stroke of his tongue over mine had turned my legs into jelly. But because I no longer could use the excuse of him being six years younger than me, when I saw him and felt him as a man.

La ley respetando, la virtud y honor...

Wait a second, what virtue and honor did I have if I let this moment get to my head and undo every promise I'd made myself?

No matter how mind-blowing this kiss was, or how good Tae Yang felt against me, the reason we were doing this was because of the girl no doubt watching the show. Not because I had agreed to changing our status from friends to something else. I no longer was the naive, easily-seduced girl I used to be.

After pulling away, Tae Yang's eyes remained closed for a second as if he wasn't quite ready to face reality yet. I pinched my thigh to snap myself out of sensual dreams instead.

Lacing my arm around his, I turned to the audience. "Satisfied?"

The girl gnashed her teeth, glaring like I'd just taken her favorite toy. Considering everything she wore seemed more expensive than my paycheck, I figured she wasn't someone who was used to not getting away with hers.

Tae Yang cleared his throat a couple of times. "Yeah, so. Sorry, but we can't meet again."

"Fine," the girl said and I could've passed out right there and then. But she wasn't done yet. With one hand she grabbed her purse and with the other a glass of water.

Never in my life would I have guessed what she'd do with it. One second I was thinking Tae Yang's and my make out session had made her thirsty—because I sure as hell was, too—and the next she tossed it right at us. And when I said it, I meant the water, not the glass.

Tae Yang and I gasped as cold water and ice cubes splashed on our faces and down our clothes.

With a sniff, she turned around and walked out of the restaurant. Every single person in the place, employees and customers, watched us with the same avid intent of a viewer in front of the screen, catching their telenovela. That was exactly what this felt like.

"Qué carajo..."

Tae Yang said, "Let's get out of here before people start taking pictures."

A quick glance confirmed no one had caught the big event on camera. It must have been thanks to all the smooching. Public displays of affection tended to make people uncomfortable and whew, I was glad for it. The last thing I wanted was to be the protagonist of some internet video Mom might see on Facebook.

Once we made it out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk, I stepped away from under his arm. Only when I was far away enough did I dare look at him again. He might as well be naked because his shirt, now fully transparent, clung to him like a second skin.

I looked away from all the muscle in display to inspect my own damage. At least my dress was dark, because otherwise I'd also be giving a show to the other pedestrians.

"Huh, turns out I made a good call wearing waterproof makeup."

That stopped Tae Yang in his steps. His eyes focused on me and slowly, life returned to them. His lips trembled and he burst out laughing.

I tried to shush him. "Stop, this isn't funny."

But his laughter was contagious and suddenly I was in a fit of giggles too.

"That was the most bizarre situation of my life," he said in between wheezing breaths.

I wiped my face. "If this were a telenovela no one would watch it."

He smirked. "I beg to differ, there were some highlights worth watching."

"No." I folded my arms. "Let's not do any of this again."

Hopefully he caught the emphasis I put on the word any.

The edge of his smile put the hairs of my skin on their ends. I rubbed my arms, trying to chase away the alternating sensation of cold and heat he caused.

"C'mon, I have a towel in my car," he said while peeling the shirt away from his abs. "And I need to change before someone accuses me of public indecency."

It was plausible. His hair and face dripped with water, further stressing the issue of his shirt. I followed him towards the free parking lot by the Winter Park train station, where he'd parked his Grand Cherokee.

He unlocked the passenger's door and pulled out a gym bag. At my look he said, "No cooties, this was meant for tomorrow so it's actually clean."

As he handed the towel to me and I caught the whiff of laundry soap, I relaxed and used it to pat myself dry.

"Thanks for all of that, by the way. I owe you big time." Tae Yang turned away from me and lifted the shirt up and off of him. "How can I repay you?"

I pressed the towel against my mouth to stop myself from saying something I wouldn't be able to take back. Something along the lines of fuck me. Which, as I observed the muscles of his back in play while he changed his shirt, was the preferred payment method.

Shaking my head hard, I lifted the towel partially to dry my hair, but also to hide the view. I had to get in Miss mode, when I'd wanted to eat golfeados but all I could eat was canned tuna. Tae Yang was the snack I had to get on a diet from. Forever.

And so I proceeded to deliberately put my foot in my mouth by saying, "Your friendship is all I need, dongsaeng."

For whatever remained of my virtue and honor, that was how it had to be.

SONG OF THE DAY: El himno de Venezuela (lololol)