//
Time really flew high when you're having fun. It was almost dark when they realized that they were starving. Yixing bought a big Gudetama shopping bags from Daiso to carry all their stuff and followed Jisoo to show them the way to their dinner place.
And their meal today was a series of various choices of the famous Myeongdong street food. Jisoo warned him that all of them were just mouthwatering so they agreed to try one each to share and bought some more if they're really worth it. They tried literally everything there, from the honey ice cream bread, baked cheese and rice cake to cone pizza and everything else. Yixing loved the boneless chicken feet, and repurchased the roast lobster twice, the same went with the butter scallops since he loved cheese so much.
"Hm, my mother would love this." she heard him say when he tried the egg bread. She smiled again watching him savoring the taste of his mother's (would be) favorite, in fact, she had been hearing him say the same things for about three of four times today when they tried some of the food. And by that, she learned that his mother loved egg and seafood, which he called her maniac instead later on. 
"You really treasure your mother a lot, don't you?" she commented after Yixing asked her to buy him some more for his midnight snack.
"I do, she's the loveliest. But then again, what kind of son who doesn't?"
Well, she could name a few, she mentally noted. But apart from that, her question indeed sounded so stupid. Of course, a child would naturally treasure her mother.
"But not the way you do." she said again, "I think my brother treasures my mom a lot, but he doesn't show it with tangible actions. We all know he treasures her with the number of digits that mark up her bank account every month." Yixing laughed on it, "My grandmother even did a shoutout on your service at the dinner. Saying that, this Yixing kid has a virtue that kids these days don't have."
Yixing was dissolved into a chuckle hearing that, he gulped down the Americano that they bought earlier and threw the used plastic cup to a dustbin nearby.
"Well, I was raised to do that, showing our affection and how much we treasure her. Woman, in this case, is a mother, is the queen of the family. She has sacrificed many things to stand up on her feet until today, and it's just the things that we, my father and I, do to repay those things she's done for us. Even though we know, I know, that they're still not enough."
Jisoo listened carefully and attentively to every word he said. It was really heartwarming, but she couldn't just get away from this thought of the possibility the men in Yixing family would probably have been spoiling their woman too much? She meant it like, indeed, there's nothing wrong to hold up the position of his mother that high in the family, but in his case it felt a little bit overrated. And she wished to know why.
"No offense, Yixing, but I've been wondering why you've been valuing your mother that much. I know it's a stupid question, but, she's not the only one who has sacrificed many things for the family. Your father must have done the same thing too, and probably just as many as she did. Because the way I see it, sacrifice is a basic thing to start a family, it's like, a foundation of that commitment they chose to build." And it was the same reason as to why she wanted to postpone their wedding because she's not ready to sacrifice a thing or maybe some things that she loved the most, she thought.
They took a seat at the vacant bench at the side of the road and Yixing wetted his lips again before he adjusted his seat to face her. 
"First thing first, there's no such thing as a stupid question. Second, before I answer that, I want you to answer my question first," he said, and she nodded. "Apart from what people around you said about me, what do you personally think of me?"
Jisoo hummed, "Well, I think you're a nice guy. You're so considerate to my problems, you're funny and intelligent, and you're sweet too."
"And do you like me for that?" he asked.
"I do."
"Then you should thank my mother for that," he said. She raised her brow, demanding elaboration. "She gave birth to me, Jisoo. Imagine what she has to sacrifice for that alone to bear me. And she makes me who I am today. All these things you see in me, they're all her creations."
She nodded. Now she started to get where his words were heading, and honestly, it really opened her eyes. She's never seen that point of view before, how a child would see their mother, not as the one wore merely and verbally called as someone who gave birth to them but someone who had been bearing with them since the day they were made until right this second. And suddenly she felt so much guilt to her mother for snapping at her the other day.
"All I did is just to make her happy. That's why I tried to, you know, push you into this marriage before." he cleared his throat and looked away, maybe feeling guilty too about it.
"But you didn't." she put her hand on his cheek and turned his face back on her again, "You talked it out with your mother and saved me instead."
"I did. And I'm glad I did." he smiled.
"And I've been wondering myself, what made you change your mind?"
Yixing shrugged, "Maybe because I think that you're going to be the queen of my own family someday. I just can't do that to you." he bit his lower lip and let out a small smile as he stroke the strands of hair on her face to the back of her ear. And Jisoo couldn't hide her blush anymore to his words. Granted, they're the sweetest words she'd heard him say today.
"Thank you." was the only thing she could say to him.
*
He turned his head to steal a glimpse of the side view of Jisoo's face next to him. He'd been bracing himself for openly staring at her for too long for the whole day, he just didn't want to be obvious. But it's really hard when an ethereal beauty was standing before him screaming 'look at me!' desperately to his attention. He was almost hopeless because she was just that attractive, and how much he wanted to act nonchalant, he just failed miserably.
Yixing was observant of a woman's appearance. It's the thing that he always looked at them in the first place. Something that left a big impression; that would either allure him to get to know them more deeply or stop laying his eyes at them unnecessarily for the rest of the day. Yixing had met both types, and Jisoo was one of the former.
He really meant it when he said that he liked anything she wore, she'd been having his full attention at her choice of outfit that she wore back at the conference with that short floral dress and thigh-high boots. He wasn't certainly sure if the outfit was formal enough for the occasion, but the way she pulled it off just told him that she was pretty adamant to maintain her personal etiquette of dressing code. At least she putting on the blazer before the speech was a good effort.
To make it short, he was captivated by her beauty. Damn, she was even a beauty in bare face, which he'd never found in any girl he had dated or at least witnessed in such state—not even his beautiful cousin. He remembered how his girls in the past were acting high bearing their artificial beauty, but almost never agreed to be seen with no makeup on. But he almost lost his breath today when he saw her standing before him as she opened the door that he fell into a sudden stupid awkwardness, and the best part of it was, she wasn't even aware that she was that pretty. 
It's nothing helpful knowing the likeliness of the lack of clothing that she preferred—he'd seen her for about four times until today and she always was in either short dress or shorts itself. It's nothing provocative, she seemed aware that shorts just beautified the lower parts of her body, and it indeed was a big success. Even though the possessive side of him would like it much better if she wore something more covering, he still held himself to confront her about it. It wasn't a good idea to tell a girl off of what to wear on a second date, he didn't want her to think of him as a control freak or whatsoever. But he made a mental note to talk it out to her next time, so much later on, maybe.
But today had been amazeballs. He was grateful that she'd been taking his questionnaire seriously that she planned this exploration for his benefit. He was glad that she had been opening herself more to him compared to the last time they met. She believed in him, and he wanted to appreciate that. He wanted to protect her and kept his promises to her because he believed that this story would end in a very happy ending for them.
 
Jisoo was really adorable that he just wanted to keep her inside his pocket if he could. It's still hard to believe how she would be so mature at one time and acted like a fifteen years old girl in puberty a moment later. And all these acts were so natural, nothing faked, it's just genuinely her. And that's exactly what he loved about her. Her sassy mood was contagious to the extent that it made him felt like he was ten years younger while they're doing that list on her dream date—and she said they just only scratched three of them today.
He didn't mind it though, if these things would be this fun again, he wouldn't mind doing even a hundred of them, as long as he could be with her. 
"Jisoo, I have to fly to Singapore tomorrow, and it would be for four days this time," he told him as they were walking back to her apartment. "Can I see you again after I get back?"
 
"What day is that?" she asked a tiredly, seemed like today's fun had drained all her strength that left her a bit unfocused.
"Thursday?"
"I'm afraid I will have flew to Japan on Wednesday, and I'll be staying until Saturday," she told him with a pout.
What a cutie, he wanted to pinch her cheek so much for that.
"What about the beginning of next month?" he asked again because he just knew that he would be so busy at the month-end. He had no idea if he could spare his time to see her at spoken times.
"I'm going to the States for two weeks or so, and I'll be probably back on the sixteenth or eighteenth the latest." she then sighed, "Hey, it's okay, you know. We can always have a video call. Thank God we live in this world with this magical invention called the internet. Imagine how sucks it must be to be our grandparents."
Yixing couldn't help to smile for that, "Fair enough."
As the reached the stairs of her apartment, Yixing started to feel disappointed. He was sad that time went so fast, and it was night time already. He didn't want to leave, especially knowing how long it would be until he could see her again, in person. At this time of day, he hated himself as who he was. If we here an ordinary person, he would probably make much more time to see her as he pleased. But he knew better that it's more than the way it was.
Jisoo climbed up the stairs sluggishly and took the shopping bag which contained her stuff in there from him. She thanked him for the day and said goodbye, but he just stood there to watch her inserting the passcode of her house on the security lock, and he suddenly had this urge for something.
"Baobei," he called out softly. 
"Hm?" Jisoo spun around to face him while holding the door open with her arm. 
Yixing couldn't hide his smile again. He loved it. He just loved the way she naturally reacted his call as if it was her given name. It just showed her who she was and what she was for him, that she was his baobei. His sweetheart.
"The book you wanted me to read. I left it on the coffee table," he said.
"Ah, right. Wait here, I'll get it for you." Jisoo left her in front of the door, he could hear her running inside the house and for a split second he worried if she hurt herself on that, so he was about to tell her to take her time when she appeared from behind the door right that second.
"Thanks. I'll read it with all my heart."
"And let me know when you finish it..."
"So you can give me the second book." he finished it for her with a salute.
"Right away, Ma'am."
And silence. She stood on her feet, arms intertwined behind her back watching him with a smile. He hoped he could read what was on her mind right now, but he couldn't. It's just that from that idleness, he could see that she was probably feeling the same that he was right now. She didn't want him to leave.
But of course, he had to. It's late already, and he had a morning flight tomorrow. They needed their rest.
"Can I give you an awkward hug?" he requested, which she willingly stretched her arms for him to take.
He leaned in to take her petite body into his arms. How warm she was in him, he felt so relieved that everything went well with them. He loved the sweet musk scent of her perfume. He loved the cherry smell on her hair. He loved how she brushed his back because it left him with this soothing feeling. She made her feel like home.
He pressed his lips on her cheek softly and pulled away, hoping that she wouldn't mind his audacity. But she didn't, thankfully, because she just smiled and waved her hand instead.
"Drive safe," she said.
"See you when I see you," he said.
She nodded, then she spun around. 
"Goodnight, Yixing." was her last words before she closed the door.
Goodnight, Baobei.
And he left.
* * *