Just Seven Days ✓

❄ Day Four

Once he had finished washing his face and brushing his teeth, Lay walked over to his bed and plopped down. He then picked up the frame sitting on his nightstand and smiled. The main photo was a family portrait he had taken five years ago when his father was still alive and tucked into the lower corner was a smaller, wallet sized picture of Santa, himself and Jihye. The one they had taken yesterday.

Although it was a bit of a hassle convincing the girl it was perfectly fine for her to take a picture with the old man in red, Lay knew it was worth it. The smile on her face was small and shy but nonetheless, it was still a smile.

And boy did she look beautiful wearing it.

His finger brushed against her face as he listened to his heart. It was already uneven and thrashing wildly just by a mere picture of her. This told him that Jihye wasn't just any ordinary girl to him. She was the only one with the ability to make his heart beat slow yet fast all at the same time. He couldn't afford to lose her and it was decided then that he was going to do everything it took to win her over. And he had exactly four more days to do so.

Lay had never been really interested in a girl before. He had thought some of them were nice and pretty but that was about it. None of them were able to stir his heart like Jihye did the crazy thing about it was he barely knew the girl. But having spent three days with her, he could feel himself growing closer to her. With every single look she threw at him, he could feel himself falling deeper for her (as cheesy and cliché as that may sound).

His mother was right when she made the hypothesis about Jihye and now that he was beginning to see the real down-to-earth girl behind the cold façade she held, he craved to learn more. He needed to be the person who would strip away her false exterior. The one who gave her a reason to smile everyday. The guy she couldn't go a minute without thinking about. Because Jihye was already that girl to him.

Meanwhile, across the street, Jihye was brushing her hair. She had just taken a refreshing shower and now was waiting for whatever it was Lay had planned out for them. She was excited and couldn't wait to be reunited with him again. Because although she didn't want to admit it, she grew very fond of his presence. Very fond of him. He was like no one she'd met before and to Jihye that was a good thing.

She liked how different Lay was compared to everyone else she had encountered; it was his charm. What hooked Jihye to the line. She never experienced the feeling of liking someone in a romantic sense before and if she hadn't searched up all of the symptoms she was going through whenever he was around, she wouldn't have known the truth.

The truth that somewhere along the way she had unexpectedly developed pleasant feelings for the guy whose name was Zhang Yixing.

Of course, it shocked her when she found out that there was a chance that she might have liked Lay but it didn't take her that long to accept that she did. Because she didn't mind liking him. Why should she? There were no consequences if she did. Whenever they were with each other, she didn't feel sad or lonely. She was never bored or tedious. Before she met him, Jihye was never content with her life.

It was like she was an incomplete jigsaw puzzle; and now that she had found him, it felt like Lay was the missing piece that would be able to make her whole. They say love can happen anytime, anywhere and for Qi Jihye, love happened when Lay entered her life. Finally, the person, who would stick by her side no matter what (the one she had been waiting for), had arrived and she couldn't let him go. No, because she needed him.

Placing the brush down, Jihye gazed at the small photo taped to her vanity. She smiled at Lay's face and thought back to the answer she had given to Santa when he asked her what it was that she wanted most for Christmas this year. Her response whispered into the old man's ear was: "Nothing because I think I already have the best thing anyone could ever wish for." Thinking about how corny her words were, Jihye blushed as she bit the insides of her cheeks.

Next, the doorbell rang and she had a pretty good idea on who it was.

Getting overly enthused, Jihye tried to calm herself but that all went down the drain as she bolted down the stairs. When she reached the door, she peered through the peephole where she was greeted with the face that made her heart swoon. She pressed a palm over her chest, telling her organ to quiet down as she took a deep breath. Her fingers coiled around the handle and a second later, the door opened. "Hey," she smiled at Lay who was holding two grocery bags.

"Hi," Lay answered back, a smile evident on his own lips. "Can I come in?" Jihye nodded and stepped out of the way.

"Do you need help?" She offered.

"No, I've got it." He politely rejected. "Where's your kitchen?"

"Straight down and to your right," she instructed as she tailed him. When they arrived, Lay placed everything onto the counter and unzipped his jacket. "What's all of this?" Jihye questioned as she watched him unpack the bags.

"Today you and I are going to do some baking." Lay declared. Jihye's eyes widened as she stared at the ingredients placed in front of her in horror. She was not a fan of baking at all.

{---}

"Are you even a girl?" Lay balked as he took the mixer from Jihye's hand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She huffed and scowled at him.

"You can't even bake," he shook his head and laughed. "What kind of girl are you?"

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can cook. If you think that way, then you're saying that because you can cook you're a woman." She reasoned wittingly.

"All you had to do was mix the batter," Lay argued.

"Well," Jihye puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms against her chest. "It's harder than it looks. You should have told me I had to do it slowly. Now look, I'm all dirty."

"It's only flour, it'll come off." He said as he smiled and stirred the cookie batter.

"What about the mess in here? It looks like we were ransacked." Jihye complained. You might think that she was exaggerating but no. Her kitchen looked that bad. Eggshells littered the floor, water was spilled over the table, and various utensils were sitting on the counter while the draws and cupboards were all ajar. This had all happened because one: Jihye didn't know where anything was and two: because Lay thought that she would be able to help him with the simple tasks without any issues.

"I'll help you clean up when the cookies are in the oven, okay?" He suggested.

"That's cute," she clucked her tongue. "You thought you had a choice? You were going to help me anyways, whether you wanted to or not since you were the one who wanted to bake in the first place."

"Wow," Lay muttered. "Were you always this demanding?"

"Yes," Jihye grinned before she stuck her tongue out at him like a child.

"Hey, you have a little something right there." Lay pointed out, gesturing to her face.

Afraid that she looked embarrassing, Jihye immediately touched her face. "What? Where is it?"

"Right here," Lay stuck his finger into the bowl and then smeared some batter onto Jihye's nose.

The girl went cross-eyed as she tried to see what he had done. When she did that, Lay couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing. "Oh yeah?" Jihye reached into the batter and painted his cheeks with the dough as revenge. The latter stopped laughing as he squinted his eyes at her.

"Oh it's on, Qi Ji Hye." His tone was serious and Jihye knew she had to make her escape. So without further ado, she darted out of the kitchen with Lay trailing behind her. The snow was falling outside while laughter and warmth filled the Qi's home. "I've got you now." Lay panted as he wrapped his arms around Jihye's waist and spun her in the air. He had chased her for a good ten minutes around the entire house. You could say she literally took his breath away.

"Put me down," Jihye laughed as she smacked his arms. As he was trying to stop, he lost his footing and toppled over onto the couch. Jihye was currently resting on top of him and for a minute, neither of them said anything. This was the perfect opportunity for Lay to seize. He had to do it now; there was no room for second guessing. Carefully and slowly, his hand reached out and cupped the side of her face. He saw her eyes flutter shut and just as he began to lean in, the timer for the oven beeped. And just like that, the moment was ruined.