Hwang Hyunjin || Call My Name (Under Revision)

23. First date

CHAN'S POV

It's been two weeks since I started courting Yeona—and honestly, I've never felt this light. Like there's a small sun just quietly glowing in my chest. She doesn't say much, but sometimes... she's the first to text. Sometimes she's already waiting by the school gate, scanning the crowd until her eyes find me. Those little things—those are what keep me going.

Today's Friday. That means tomorrow's Saturday—no school, no homework, no interruptions. I've been thinking about it all day. Maybe it's time. Maybe I should finally ask her out. For real. A date.

After class, we ended up at the convenience store near our neighborhood, the usual spot. Both of us had ice cream cones, sitting on the curb like it was the most natural thing in the world. The sky was orange, and her laughter echoed a little louder than usual today.

We were in the middle of laughing about Mr. Shin's weird tie when she suddenly went quiet.

I paused. She was staring into the distance.

"Hey," I nudged her, waving a hand. "You okay?"

Yeona blinked, like snapping out of a daydream. "Oh? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Thought I saw a squirrel."

"A squirrel? In this city?" I laughed, looking around. "Where? I want proof."

"It ran away," she said quickly, eyes wide. It was obviously a lie, but I let it go.

"Right. Clearly, the squirrel needs more ice cream." I scooped a bit of mine and nudged it toward her lips.

She leaned in, took the bite, and laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"I know. But hey, you smiled again."

We finished our cones as we walked down the quiet street toward our homes. There was a calm between us. Not awkward. Just... quiet. Like both of us were thinking about something we weren't quite ready to say.

I glanced at her.

"Hey, Yeona..."

She looked up.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

She turned her gaze back down to the pavement. "Nothing much, I guess. Why?"

I stuffed my hands into my pockets, trying not to sound nervous. "Wanna go out? Like... go on a date?"

She stopped walking.

"A date?" she echoed, almost like she hadn't heard that word in a long time.

"Yeah," I said, meeting her eyes. "Unless you don't want to."

She was quiet for a few seconds. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something else, but she sighed instead.

Then she smiled—gently. "Okay. Let's go on a date."

And just like that, the sun in my chest burned brighter.

When I got home, I practically flew into my room. My bag hit the floor, and I dove straight onto my bed, arms wide.

"I'm going on a date with Yeona," I whispered at first.

Then I said it louder.

Then I screamed it into my pillow.

I kicked my legs in the air like an excited little kid, rolling from one end of the bed to the other. What should I wear? Where should we go? Should I bring flowers? Or is that too much? What if she likes simple things? What if she doesn't like anything at all? Oh my god, what if I talk too much?

I was in the middle of debating whether to wear cologne or just "natural boy smell" when—

"What are you doing?"