Sunhee couldn't help feeling a little giddy, seeing Kevin waiting for her in his car.
"Who would have thought," Kevin commented as soon as she got in the car. "That you'd go from being miss 'stranger danger', to my roommate. You've known me for two days and you're so sure that I'm not evil?" he teased.
She glared at him. "You're lucky that you're driving, or else I'd hit you over the head again," she told him. "And don't make me regret my decision to be your roommate."
"You won't regret it, not when you have what I'm making for dinner."
"What's for dinner?" she asked, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. If his breakfast had been so good, she couldn't even imagine what dinner would be like.
"Excited? That's cute," Kevin teased.
"If you keep calling me cute I'm going to start believing it."
He glanced over at her. "You should. You are cute."
She grinned at him, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "And you sir, are absolutely adorable. With or without ladybug aprons."
He blushed, and she had to admit that making him flustered was satisfying. She should do it more often.
"We're not talking about the apron anymore," he muttered, feeling his face with one hand.
"Oh, you're definitely blushing," she confirmed cheekily.
He shot her a glare. "You're distracting me," he complained. "If you do that again I'm putting you out on the side of the road."
She giggled at his flustered threat. "Sure you will," she said, turning on the radio and closing her eyes, done with teasing him for now.
But she opened her eyes again when he started singing along.
"You... your voice is so lovely!" she exclaimed, gaping at him. "Wow. You can draw, cook, are cute, and you can sing. Is there anything you can't do?"
Kevin smiled at her. "I guess I'm just the perfect guy, right?"
"I guess so!" she agreed, laughing.
"Better than Mark?" he teased.
Sunhee glared at him. "Stop bringing him up!" she whined, causing him to laugh. But then she considered for a moment, thinking about Mark. "You're not better than Mark," she said softly. "You're both amazing. But..." she trailed off, her heart suddenly sinking.
"But what? Are you alright?" he asked, reaching over and taking her hand. When he did, she realized that tears had filled her eyes.
She laughed, shaking her head at herself as one of her tears fell. "I'm fine. I'm just being dramatic, I guess."
"No," he said sternly, squeezing her hand. "Your feelings are valid, whatever they are. You're hurting. Tell me. Or tell someone. Talk to someone. You shouldn't deal with pain alone, no matter how small it may seem."
She looked down at his hand, that was still over hers. "You're like an angel," she whispered.
"Do you want to tell me? But what?"
Sunhee hesitated for one more second before closing her eyes, letting the tears run down her face. "I've liked Mark for a long time," she said softly. "I'm not even completely sure why. We've been friends for a long time, so I guess it can happen. But... but with him a lot of the time I feel like I can't really be myself. Or I'm scared to be myself. I don't think I should be, because I know him. He really is a nice guy, and I know he'll always be there for me. I know he'll always be my friend. But his world is so, so different from mine. It's stifling. We don't really have fun together anymore. And sometimes I wonder if I really like him... or if I like the fun memories that I did have with him. But now those fun moments are so far in between... I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just rambling. I'm sorry-"
Kevin squeezed her hand again once before letting go, parking the car in one of the school's parking lots. She looked at him and he reached forward, wiping the remaining tears off of her face. "Why are you sorry? Everything you said makes sense to me."
She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you for listening. You're a good friend," she said, pausing. "Even if I've only known you for two days," she added, laughing.
He got out of the car, and she did the same. He walked around to her side and took her in his arms, hugging her tight.
"You really like hugs, don't you?" she teased, smiling as she hugged him back.
"I think it's the best way to comfort people," he said, breaking the embrace to look at her. "Listen Sunhee, I haven't known you for very long, but here's my advice. Be honest with Mark. I mean, be yourself around him. You need to. You can't have a relationship with someone who doesn't know the real you. You should try telling him how you're feeling."
"I don't want to hurt him," she whispered.
"And he wouldn't want to see you be hurt," Kevin responded. "I know I don't."
