Egocentric [Book I]

First

“Are you nervous?”

Xiumin opened the door on the passenger’s side and reached for Minah’s hand, feeling her grip it tightly because other than his voice, his touch was the only thing she could rely on. It was distressing how she could only see darkness whenever she opened her eyes, but Xiumin never failed to remind her that he would be there in every step.

“You have no idea.” Minah mumbled. “I can hear my own pulse.”

“Yeo Min-ah...” Xiumin called, lifting her other hand up so he was holding both. She nodded in response, but couldn’t shun away the fact that she could fall on her face any second. Minah wasn’t really that much of a person who loved surprises, but Xiumin insisted that she wear a blindfold for the element of the unknown. “Do you trust me?”

“I trust you, Kim Min-seok.” Minah huffed and shook her head in amusement, gripping Xiumin’s hands tighter. “I swear, if you leave me for five seconds, I’m gonna take this blindfold off.”

“I won’t leave you.” Xiumin chuckled. “You’re being paranoid.”

“How about we switch places?” Minah challenged, taking a step forward. “I didn’t know dates are supposed to be like this.”

“I don’t want any of those romantic movie nights shit you see on TV or those restaurants filled with waiters with funny haircuts serving couples.” Xiumin laughed, standing beside Minah and wrapping an arm around her waist as he guided her to walk. “I put so much thought into this. It’s a special date for an unusual girl.”

“Are you saying I’m weird?” Minah laughed.

“Yes. You got a problem with that, weirdo?”

“No, I don’t.”

Minah was wearing sneakers and she could easily feel the soft ground they were walking on. To some girls – to most girls, actually – it was a crime to go on a first date looking like a person about to attend a rock concert. She had a plain black shirt on, her favorite jacket, and jeans.

Xiumin knew that she wasn’t one to dress up and that the only event she ever went to with fancy clothes was Luhan’s party, so when she asked what she should wear, Xiumin told her to be dressed in anything she was comfortable in. After all, nobody’s going to see them both but each other and he honestly wouldn’t mind if she showed up with her uniform on.

She’d look beautiful, nevertheless.

“Are we there yet?” Minah asked.

“Just a few steps more.” Xiumin instructed, letting her go forward slowly. It was when he stopped that Minah became even more jumpy than she was before, excited at what was about to happen and scared at the same time. “You’re shaking.”

“That’s because I’m dying to take this thing off my eyes.” Minah huffed.

“Here, turn around.” Xiumin said, grabbing her shoulders to guide her still. He untied the knot and pulled the scarf off slowly, earning himself a gasp from her. “What do you think?”

Minah had her jaw hanging while she absorbed what was in front of her, a scene she never imagined would be by her very eyes. She almost didn’t recognize the place; the empty park with the dysfunctional fountain they once went into, now transformed into a site seemingly only inhabited by pixies.

Just as she was letting it all sink in, the fountain lit up and worked, giving off the relaxing sound of water hitting the surface. It was lined up with small but plenty of fairy lights to make it prettier, glowing one after the other as if they were fireflies. There were lanterns placed on the grass to guide their way to a waiting picnic blanket, where a large basket containing all their food was set.