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Brooke nervously looked at herself in the reflection of the glass window of a nearby building for the fourth time, straightening her clothes and picking at loose strands of hair to arrange it to frame her hair perfectly.
Around 165cm tall with a slim figure, she was wearing a tight fitting, black bodycon dress that reached mid-thigh and puffy Balenciaga sneakers. She also had a loose, sensible cardigan that covered her shoulders.
She had a modest figure, unlike the scandalous, hourglass figure of Hana, nor did she have the perky butt that Sophie had. But Brooke was slim and tall for her age, so she fit the Korean standards of beauty quite well. If she had sharper or more exotic features, she might have a career as a runway model.
This was her first date with Daniel. No, correction. This was her first date ever with a boy. Unlike Sophie, Hana and Olivia, Brooke had never dated before. Which was why she was particularly nervous about today and what they were going to be doing.
To that effect, she kept looking up things online like, 'First date ideas', 'What to do during a date' or 'Conversation topics during a date'. She had prepared in her mind six different topics to bring up during conversation, and had also saved a list of 'Top 10 things to do during a date to indicate your interest' in her phone.
Although she had prepare a lot in advance for the date, Brooke still felt nervous and was worried Daniel might find her boring and unattractive.
What made things worse was that not only did Sophie refuse to share details about what she did with Daniel the day before, she even kept hinting or implying certain things that Brooke didn't fully get.
Daniel as well, seemed reticent to share any details when she asked him about it over the phone. Not like he was quick in replying her messages in the first place. After he finally replied at night to her embarrassingly numerous questioning texts, he did not reply until late at night the next morning.
Sophie also replied to their messages at around the same time too.
What the hell were they doing… Brooke was dying of curiosity and her imagination also ran wild. 'Were they making out somewhere? All the way until midnight? Ahh, Sophie is so daring! I can't believe it!'
Of course, she couldn't have imagined that Daniel and Sophie did a lot more than just make out…
As Brooke checked herself out in the mirror, making minor adjustments, she spotted the radiant figure of Daniel approaching her. Though she did not forget what he looked like, since they had just met yesterday, seeing him again reminded her of just how ridiculously handsome he was.
Daniel had a tougher time recognising Brooke. They had met only briefly and from his perspective, many things had happened since. But he did not embarrass himself by forgetting what she looked like completely.
"Hi Brooke!" He greeted jovially.
"Daniel-oppa! Wow, you look great! I love your outfit! Maybe it is just because you would look good in anything?" Brooke shot out rapid fire compliments.
"No way, Sophie just had good tastes. You look good too." He answered modestly while smoothly returning the compliment as well.
Brooke's smile quirked to the side, not happy Daniel was talking about another girl when they just met up. But he did say she looked good, so she would forgive him for this.
She recalled how Sophie and Hana had grabbed and clung on to his arms when they just met, and she also remembered he did not seem like he hated it. So she did the same, even though she felt her face hearing up from the embarrassing gesture.
Brooke also recalled one of the 'Top ten things to do during a date to indicate your interest' - physical contact!
This was the first time she ever held a boy's arm, having no experience going out with someone of the opposite gender before. But though she was very shy, Brooke also felt very at ease holding on to Daniel's strong arm.
The boy in question, after having doing so much with Sophie the night before, was no longer as unfamiliar with physical contact with girls. He did not feel shy from Brooke holding his arm, especially since she wasn't rubbing her chest all over him as well.
"So, where are we headed for lunch?" He asked, giving no hint of concern or discomfort at being in such close proximity with Brooke.
She also took it as a good sign, and smiled brightly, "I'll bring you to one of my favourite places to eat! It's a really cute cafe that has great coffee! Oh do you drink coffee?"
"Not always, but sometimes I will make some coffee if I need the caffeine."
"Oh that's great, you are going to love the coffee there. They serve a really good cold brew coffee that has the perfect balance between the acidity and smoothness."
'…what?' Daniel had a feeling she wasn't talking about 3-in-1 instant coffee that was what he usually drank.
Now he was a little ashamed to clear up the misunderstanding, and he also thought it would be a little awkward to do so. In the interest of keeping the conversation smooth, he kept quiet about his lacking exposure to 'real coffee'.
As they walked down the street towards the cafe that Brooke was guiding him to, Daniel noticed he was being stared at by many people. But he was already starting to get used to it as he also received those same looks when he was with Sophie.
Brooke, on the other hand, did not have such an experience. It was true that she was pretty, but she was not a head-turning beauty nor did she had a sexy figure like Hana. While boys occasionally glanced at her, she never received attention from nearly everyone on the streets like right now.
She couldn't help but feel self-conscious walking next to Daniel. She glanced up at him, and saw that he looked like he did not even notice the looks everyone was giving him.
'Makes sense. He must already be used to people staring at him. Am I the one that looks out of place walking next to him?'
Brooke suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She was all of a sudden scared of sneers and looks of disdain from judgemental eyes thinking she was a toad that wants to eat a swan. Her eyes unconsciously moved downwards, not wanting to meet the gaze of passer-bys.
