⫯ london

@❀ park nayeon 「ʙᴇʟʟᴀ」ᵖᵃⁿᵈᵒʳᵃ The look of surprise on her face was priceless and Kyungho was glad he pulled this little stunt. He never normally do things out of impluse but now, it was all worth it. Though when she voiced out her concern, he dismissed it with a little ruffle on her hair while grinning. "Don't worry about me. This is already resting for me. And having a date with you would actually replenish my energy too, so I'll be fine." He chuckled then pointing to one of car rent services in the airport. "I'll go rent a car for us. Hope it wont be too long, I'll be right back, princess."

Okay, that nickname was definitely not planned to be out so ear;y like this. So, in hope that she wouldn't catch his reddening face, Kyungho immediately turned around and almost dashed towards the car rent service place to get a nice and comfortable car for them to use around London area. And after went through the car list, he finally choosing a sport car to be their ride, well, he would've chosen something like MINI but they were expected to come to a luxurious hotel later and heading there in a MINI car was definitely wouldn't make a statement, that's why he went with an Aston Martin DB12 Volante instead. Once he finished signed all the papers needed and made the payment, he made his way back to the cafe where he left Nayeon earlier and then took a seat on front of her while grinning. "It'll take around 20 minutes until our car is ready. So, where are you going to take me first on this London date, Nayeon-ssi~?"

@❀ choi kyungho 「ᴋ」ˣ.ᵈᵉᵐⁱᵒⁿ His grin caused her heart to skip a beat and she mentally kicked herself for being so easily affected. Nayeon found herself looking away to avoid him catching a glimpse of her reddening cheeks. “I think you have too much faith in me as a guide. I haven’t been here in years.” It was true, aside from tour stops, she didn’t have many opportunities to visit London since becoming a trainee. Yet, the fact that he wanted her to show him around immediately had her racking her brain for places they could go. A few places immediately came to mind, and she could only hope that Kyungho actually enjoyed them.

She listened attentively to his answer, soaking in the information as much as she could and committing it to memory. Now she knew what colors to get things for him in, not that she’d admit that out loud. “Me?” There was no hiding the surprise at the turnaround, though she was able to quickly recover. She thought about her answer carefully before responding. “I think I’d say red? But more like a wine or burgundy red? Deep and dark. I also really like black and silver too, and I’ve grown to really love teal but that could be because it’s been my representative color in PANDØRA for the last 7 years.”

As she smiled at the chauffeur, she couldn’t help the sound of surprise that left her as Kyungho steered her away from the car. “Wait what?” A date? She wasn’t dressed for a date. She wasn’t prepared and she had just given her belongings to the chauffeur, who cheekily smiled as he drove away. The spontaneity of the offer threw her off but also made her excited. “I think…I love that idea. I got enough rest on the plane so I’m okay, but it’s you I’m worried about. Don’t you want to rest a little bit first?”

@❀ park nayeon 「ʙᴇʟʟᴀ」ᵖᵃⁿᵈᵒʳᵃ "They wanted to, but I told them I have the best guide with me so they don't have to plan anything for me." He grinned at her. Of course, it was one of his plans to just enjoy their time like any two normal adults on vacation. Sure if he let his family set places they should go, they wouldn't have to worry about queueing or getting bad food, but he wanted an authentic real date experience while they are away from scrutinizing media eyes like in Korea, and he determined to make the best of it. At her random question though, Kyungho raised his brow, a bit taken back at the general question but then again, seeing how she initiate it, even though it was just a basic question, was enough to make him smile. "I love black, maroon, silver, navy blue, lavender and forest green. But if I have to pick the most favorite one, I have to say it's tied between black and navy blue. What about you?"

Maybe two of them could play that twenty questions as they went to get something to eat as for Kyungho, it was a good way to get to know her more. He finally saw a little glimpse of hope that the walls she put around her heart were slowly crumbling down although that didn't mean that he would stop trying to win her over, on the contrary, he had to do better than before so the walls would completely be torn down and Nayeon could finally look at his way romantically.

Once they met the chauffeur who was assigned to drive them to the hotel, Kyungho suddenly had another idea. Instead of getting inside the awaiting car along with their luggage, he simply told the chauffeur to just get their luggage to the hotel without them and assured him that they would come to the hotel around dinner time. He then leads her to a cafe inside the airport. "Wait here while I rent a car for us. What's the point of going on our own if the driver is following us? I want to have a proper date with you, now we are here. Or if you want to just get some rest at the hotel, I can call the chauffeur to come back here. What do you think?"

@❀ choi kyungho 「ᴋ」ˣ.ᵈᵉᵐⁱᵒⁿ She didn’t believe that people were perfect, despite her tendency to be a perfectionist, but god dammit if Kyungho wasn’t perfect. It almost annoyed her if it wasn’t also so damn attractive. She hoped that this trip would allow them to be closer, maybe she’d be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some imperfection. Some crack in the seemingly perfect specimen beside her. How could she /not/ fall for him when he was like this? God, she sounded like a lovesick teenager, and it was all in her head to boot.

“A stroll sounds really nice actually. I could use something to eat too. Your family didn’t set up things for you to do beforehand?” Nayeon realized she actually didn’t know much about Kyungho on a personal level. She knew /of/ him of course and their families were good friends, but even in the two years they got closer, she always maintained a certain distance between them. A frown etched itself onto her features as they collected their luggage and they made their way out of the airport to the car waiting for them.

She sighed softly and shook her head, mentally kicking herself for letting such a silly thing impact their friendship. If nothing else, she’d try to work on finally letting down the wall between them. The thought alone terrified her of course, but if she was going to let her wall down for anyone, she couldn’t picture someone more worthy than Kyungho. “Random question, what’s your favorite color?” It was silly, she knew that, but perhaps it was her lack of experience that led her to believe that if she didn’t even know his answer to such a basic question, did she really even deserve to know him or like him the way she did?

@❀ park nayeon 「ʙᴇʟʟᴀ」ᵖᵃⁿᵈᵒʳᵃ Truth be told, from the moment they boarded the plane even until the plane landed, Kyungho couldn’t sleep at all. Well, if nap for an hour is not being counted at least. He was just too nervous for this trip. The moment Bella didn’t reject his invitation; his brain was already going through planning where they would go and visit, where to eat, and other activities they could do in London and nearby cities. But when they finally boarded the plane, his brain just went into complete freeze mode, especially when Bella fell asleep. He wouldn’t want to admit it out loud but all he did was just stare at her and feel he was being blessed to have her with him like this.

If one asks, when exactly his feelings for the short woman started or why would he like her, Kyungho honestly couldn’t pinpoint the exact timeline. He didn’t know when he used to think of her as Yura’s groupmate, and a leader of the group. After his engagement with Yura finally being called off, Kyungho never planned to date anyone else but after passing each other, and having several schedules together, he started to notice himself looking for her. Trying to spot her without anyone noticing which happened for quite some time. Call him a coward for not being forwardly making a move on her, but he knew that if he looked like he was rushing into anything, all it would do was just backfire on him.

The game of cat and mouse went on for about two years. He never made any move on her, nor officially asked her to be exclusively his. All of those dating rumors, including their own when a paparazzi caught them leaving a restaurant together, which was one of the few moments he asked her out, was enough to make her appear distressed and Kyungho definitely didn’t want to add more to it or even ruining whatever connection they had. So when she put a little wall in between them after that, he couldn’t complain and just accept and respect her decision, no matter how hard it was for him to do that.

Mentally he thanked his father for inviting him to the new hotel’s opening dinner. It allowed him to talk to her again, and hoping that after this trip, they could grow closer than before. No, he wouldn’t get his hopes too high by wishing her to be his girlfriend. As long as he could leave a good impression on her, it was enough for him. Maybe this was why his parents didn’t ask him to join the business, he was not as greedy as his father and just left almost everything to fate’s hand.

Back to the present time, he noticed her cheeks turned slightly red which caused him to raise an eyebrow at her action, but mentally cooing at how cute she looked with pinkish cheeks like that. Kyungho waved off her concern with a laugh. “True. It’s a bit inconvenient for me but at least I can still stand up and walk on the aisle to stretch my legs. But it’s glad to know that at least one of us had a good sleep.” He teased, trying to lighten up the mood while they waited for their luggage to finally appear. “Where do you want to go from here? We weren’t being expected until tomorrow anyway, so we have free time if you want to stroll around.”

@❀ choi kyungho 「ᴋ」ˣ.ᵈᵉᵐⁱᵒⁿ It had been a while since Nayeon had been able to go on an actual vacation. So when Kyungho offered for her to accompany him, she jumped at the chance. It was also a chance for them to spend time together without having to worry about their siblings or members. Even with her nervousness, she slept rather well during the flight, catching up on some much-needed rest. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as they started to land, the husky voice of her traveling partner drawing her attention.

There was no denying how handsome Kyungho had always been, but over the last year or so, it seemed like Nayeon was seeing him for the first time. Perhaps it was because despite being in the same company, they had never really interacted much outside of crossing schedules, or schedules they happened to have together as members of their respective groups. And then he asked her on a date, though she hadn’t considered it one. He had banned talk of work-related topics and it was the first time in a long time that she truly felt like she had been able to be herself.

Contrary to popular belief, Nayeon didn’t have a lot of experience when it came to love and relationships. Her last and only one, well she tried to not think about it as much as possible. Kyungho was different though, he always had been. He never pushed her boundaries, he barely even flirted with her, he was simply always there. And then their scandal happened. It was /exactly/ what Nayeon had been afraid of, especially with all of the other scandals that had been happening at the time. And yet he never wavered, even when she did. She did her best to avoid him after the scandal, but a selfish part of her had started to crave his presence, his security.

When he invited her to watch him play basketball, she was happy to accept and had even dressed up for the occasion. However, she arrived only to find another woman, also seemingly there for him, and Nayeon was surprised to find herself hurt and jealous over it. Her mind quickly reeled with thoughts of him being a player just like her ex, of him being just like the others and just playing with her and not actually wanting her. She knew enough about him, with their families being in similar businesses, to know that it wasn’t her money or status he was after, he had his own. So she did the only thing she felt she could do and pulled away.

Over that time, she examined her feelings for him. There was something there, though she wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t until recently that she finally realized that she was growing feelings for the male beside her. That was one of the reasons she had agreed to the trip, she wanted to learn and see just how deep and strong her feelings for him went. Only then would she even think about considering anything else. It suddenly dawned on her that she had been staring at him her face erupting in a soft pink hue, embarrassment filling her as she looked away and nodding at his question. “I think I slept most of the flight actually.” She took another moment to calm herself before turning to look at him with a soft smile. “What about you? I know we have a good amount of space but I can’t imagine it’s comfortable being in a position like this for too long with those legs.”

@❀ park nayeon 「ʙᴇʟʟᴀ」ᵖᵃⁿᵈᵒʳᵃ /finally arrived at the Heathrow airport after almost 15 hours of flying, despite using the first class seat, the discomfort was still present especially after such a long hour of flight. Turns to look at you with a concern on his face/
Well, glad the weather was nice enough during the flight. How are you though? Managed to get some rest earlier?