I was taken aback. It had never occurred to me that Hansol was the one who had asked me. But seeming as it was indeed Hansol, I smiled and put the ring from the bouquet back on my finger. "Yes," I said. "I would love to go with you Hansol."

The students in the class cheered and I walked towards Hansol, giving him a tight hug. "Thanks for saying yes," he said, returning my hug. We walked back to our seats, our hands intertwined together.

"Did you make this?" I asked, pointing to the little cut out words. "How'd you know that this book is my favorite?"

"I did make it and I didn't know it was your favorite. The Fault in Our Stars is a good book and coincidentally I decided to choose this to ask you." He smiled sweetly. "Prom is only a week away. Would you like to do anything special on that day?"

I thought about his question for a moment. "Let's take good pictures."

He laughed. "Okay. I'll drive. When it gets closer to the actual date we can plan out and be more specific."

A week later, it was finally prom! I was so excited to go. I had bought a pale pink strapless dress that reached the ground along with high, pink heels. I wrapped my hair into curls that fell down one of my shoulders. He had told me that he would pick me up at 5 from my house so I hurriedly dressed myself, painted my nails pale pink and gold, applied makeup, and put my jewelry on, along with his ring. Finished, I presented myself to my parents.

"Mari you look really nice!" Mom and Dad took pictures, wanting to save this moment. I spun around, twirling my dress, loving the feeling of the smooth fabric against my legs. Just then the doorbell rang and I ran to open the door for Hansol.

He took my breath away. Hansol wore a pale pink tie with his black suit and had his hair brushed neatly. My parents walked over to us and tried to take some pictures. Mom had her Polaroid and took a quick picture of us. "A moment to remember," she said, smiling at us. We left short after, riding in Hansol's car.

"You look really nice," he said. "Would you mind if we could hang out with some other kids before prom? Unless you don't want to." He seemed really cautious about asking me the question. I wondered why.

"Okay, I won't mind. What will we be doing?" I wondered who the other kids were.

"Taking photos, eating, just spending time until 8."

"Ah okay."

We arrived at the supposed location and got out of the car, my face brightening when I saw the rest of the boys, even Johnny. They were all with their dates, who were all dressed beautifully. Hansol came over to me and offered me his arm, which I took. We greeted everyone and were then escorted to take pictures. First, we lined up by couples then took separate pictures for the girls and boys. For the girls, we lined up by the shades of our dresses where I was in the front because of my pale pink. Behind me were the other girls in dresses of pale yellow, light green, turquoise, light blue and more. Then the boys took pictures by height. Afterwards, we had separate couple photos.

"How should we pose?" I asked him.

"How many can we take?" he asked the photographer.

"Three," was the answer.

"First one we can just do the typical hands on waist type thing and for the second one we can look at each other and for the last one lets just improvise."

Improvise...I liked that. "Deal." We shook on it, laughing. For the first picture he put his hands on my waist and we turned to look at the camera while our bodies faced left. Second, we looked at each other, fairly close and smiling. Then for the improvisation. Who knew what we were both going to do? I already had something in mind and I smiled, sneakily thinking about it. It was time to pose. I put my arms around his neck and leaned my head on his warm chest, looking at the camera. I guess I took him by surprise but that was what improvisation was about. We finished and expectantly waited for our pictures.

"I thought you were going to kiss me," Hansol said, looking slightly disappointed.

"Wow. Wow. Wow," I said. "You have such high expectations for me. What am I going to do if I can't reach all of them?"

"I'll just have to lower them so you can impress me even more," he said, grinning.

"What are we doing next?"

"Well we're going to have to wait for everyone to finish their pictures and I assume that we'll be going to eat out next."

"Where?"

He shrugged. "Wherever they want to go."

We were silent for a while, each in our individual thoughts.

"You know Mari," he said. "You look really, really, really pretty today. I can't stop thinking about you."

I didn't know how to respond so I stayed silent.

"Wow, you're so different than other girls. Some of them would say thanks or no I'm not, but you just stay silent. How interesting."

"Do you not like different?" I smiled and looked at him.

"I do like different, but I have to say that it'll take me some time to get adjusted to different."

Soon after, everyone finished their pictures and we decided to go to a sushi house. I was so relieved by the decision. It was 6:15 pm.

"Hey Hansol, I have a question for you." We were in his car, driving to the restaurant.

"Ask away."

"Are we dating?" It was a serious, but yet, an absolutely stupid question. The problem was that I really didn't know the answer.

"Um, I don't know? Would you like to?"

I raised an eyebrow. Did he just ask me out? Like that? Just like with one question? What?

"Well, do you think we're dating?" he asked me.

"No..."

"Why not?"

"You never asked me..."

"Oh right, the guy has to be the one who asks a girl out right?"

"I guess..."

"Why don't girls just ask the guys out? I feel like the girls would be more bold and less shy than the guys. Mari you should ask me."

Woah, woah, woah, what?! I looked at Hansol and blinked repeatedly from surprise and a little bit from indignant feelings.

"What?" He smiled without looking at me, his eyes on the road.

He was playing dumb. I knew it. I sighed and crossed my arms across my chest.

"Mari, are you not going to ask me?"

Did I really have to?

"Have you ever thought that boys sometimes would prefer the girl to ask them?"

"Yes..."

"When girls ask guys, the guys can learn the girl's true intentions and realize that the girl likes him. So if you really like me, you should ask away."

Okay, he was making it a one sided argument. This was so not fair. I pursed my lips. "But if you really like me, shouldn't you be the one who asks me?" I retorted, using his argument in my favor.

"I already asked you to prom, can't you tell that I already like you?"

That was also true. I pursed my lips again, unsure of what to do. Well, at least I wouldn't be rejected. Making my mind, I put my hands together as if I was praying and closed my eyes while yelling,"Hansol Ji will you go out with me?"

"Why are you closing your eyes and praying? Look at me and say it."

OH MY FREAKING GOSH. He was really going to make me do it again. I glanced over to look at him to see a broad smile on his face. Ugh.

There was no way I was going to ask him again. I looked straight out the window and crossed my arms before saying,"Hansol, we're going out."

He burst out laughing. "Was that a command Mari Su?"

"It's a statement of truth."

"Is there anyone who can prove it?"

"Me, myself, and I."

"Wow, such interesting people. I would really like to meet all three." He was quiet for a while, but then took one of my hands. "But, Mari. If it was a command, it's a command that I would love to comply to."

And that's how we officially started dating.

Prom was a beautiful night. My school was lit up and designed with gorgeous ornaments and decorations. Hansol and I danced the whole night, entranced in our own world. I had never felt this happy and I finally felt at peace without having to lie to myself.

That's how my junior year ended, hand in hand with my dear Hansol Ji.