The Night

"Right now? We gotta go up now?" I said nervously, looking up at the apartment building. Omari grinned at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"It's getting dark outside and it's gonna get cold. So yes, we have to go upstairs now." He took my hand and pulled me into the lobby of the complex.

We walked into the elevator and Omari presses the button for the 7th floor. I never realized how small elevators can be till now, standing shoulder to shoulder. I looked to my side at Omari and realized it was more like shoulder to forearm. This guy was way taller than me who was only 5'4.

"Ano Oma….Oppa? How tall are you?" I asked looking up at him. The elevator door opened and an old lady walked in. I stepped to the side for her, giving her a slight bow of respect.

"I'm about 6'5 or 6'6. My mother says my height comes from her side of the family. Apparently, they're all really tall people," Omari replied waiting for the elevator door to open again.

It opened again on the right floor and we walked down the long hallway. Every second that passed seemed like forever. My heart was beating a million kilometers a minute. We were so close yet so far.

Though I knew he said he wouldn't do anything I wasn't ready for, what if we get caught up in the moment? What if I get swept away by emotion and give up my all to him tonight?

My thoughts are interrupted by a beeping of buttons as Omari puts in his padlock code. He opens the door and lets me in first.

"Welcome home," he whispered in my ear. A chill goes down my spine. I quickly take off my shoes and put on the slippers in front of me.

"Feel free to sit wherever you like. I'm going to get the bath going so we can both get warmed up, and then I'll order dinner. Unless you want to throw something together with the stuff I got in the fridge?" Omari said taking off his shoes and dashing towards the bathroom.

I walked down the small hallway which opened up into the studio apartment. He had a small couch, a futon folded in the corner, a tv on top of a table. To the right of me was a small kitchenette.

I opened the fridge and found some eggs, carrots, and green onion. I looked into the cabinet to my left and found soy sauce and rice.

"Okay, I'll whip up some fried rice!"

I gathered everything onto the counter next to the hotplate stove and searched for a skillet pan. Once I found one, I began prepping the veggies and cooking the rice. I was in the middle of cutting the carrots when I felt a presence behind me.

Startled, I jumped in place, not realizing that Omari had been watching me cook. I dropped the knife onto the counter, scared I would cut myself if I wasn't careful.

"Did I scare you? I thought you knew I was behind you," Omari said stifling his laughter. I looked up at him and rolled my eyes.

"I'm fine. You just startled me a bit. I'm making fried rice. I hope that's fine with you." I said turning back to my task. Omari chuckled and walked over to his couch.

"Fried rice sounds amazing. I get to try Kimiko-chan's cooking for the first time." Omari said in a sing songy voice. I almost blushed but I couldn't feel embarrassed now or everything would burn.

After some time, I finally finished the fried rice and served them on the plates he had in the cabinet. I put the plates down on the little table in front of Omari and sat down.

"All done!"

Omari grabbed the spoon and immediately dug into the plate of rice.

"Delicious! How did you manage to whip this up with the few stuff I had?" Omari exclaimed between bites. I stifled my laughter and started to eat my own food.

When we finished eating, I got up to wash the dishes but Omari stopped me.

"No, let me do it. I can't have you cook AND wash the dishes. You sit and get comfortable. It'll only take me a couple of minutes," he said gathering the plates. He walked over to the sink and began washing the dishes, leaving me to sit there twiddling my thumbs.

I decided to text Kaede in the meantime to give me something to do and hopefully calm my nerves.

To: Kaede

I'm at Omari-san's apartment right now. I'm spending the night and freaking out. What do I do?

I sent the message and immediately get a call. I almost dropped my phone because the call startled me.

"Hello?"

"What do you mean you're at Omari-san's apartment staying overnight?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Hold on. I can't speak where I'm at right now." I whispered softly so Omari couldn't hear me.

"I'm just going to the bathroom real quick." I announced to Omari before realizing I could've gone without saying anything. I got up and quickly dashed to the bathroom.

"Okay. I told you at school that I was going to meet up with him today, but what I didn't tell you is that I'm also staying here overnight. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but honestly, I don't even know how to process this myself. I mean what if something happens tonight?" I panicked quietly. I could hear Kaede sigh and take a deep breath.

"Kimi-chan, listen to me. You're going to be fine. I mean, if something happens, then it happens. James-san and I ended up doing it the first time I stayed over, and we had only known each other for a week. I'm not saying that will happen to you though. Everyone is different," Kaede said nonchalantly.

"YOU DID WHAT?"I shouted, quickly putting my hand over my mouth. I heard a knock at the door.

"You okay in there?" Omari said, his voice muffled by the door.

"I'm fine, don't mind me!" I shouted back.

"Kae-chan, what do you mean you did it? You did what?" I whisper shouted into my phone.

"We did IT. Sex. We had it and it was great. Now, I need you to calm down. It won't happen unless you want it to. Do you want it to happen?" Kaede asked.

"I don't know Kae-chan. We've only known each other for barely two weeks. I mean I know he's my future husband and all that, but I don't know if I want to give up my purity just yet." I whispered feeling so unsure of myself.

"First, don't call it your purity. You're a virgin. Second, if you're not sure, then you aren't ready to have sex and that's okay," Kaede tried to reassure me. I took a deep breath. Kae-chan was right. I wasn't ready, but apart of me wanted to be ready for Omari.

I knew somebody like him probably already had a lot more experience with stuff like that. He was in college so it was inevitable.

"Okay, I'll stop freaking out about it so much and just be chill about everything," I whispered.

"Good, now go hang out with him. You can't get to know him if you're sitting in the bathroom with me. Bye and have fun Kimi-chan!" Kaede exclaimed before hanging up the phone.

I took another deep breath and left the bathroom. I walked into the main area to find Omari watching a show on the tv.

"Everything okay?" Omari asked when he noticed I returned.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just Kaede telling me something that happened between her and her boyfriend. You know, girl talk." I chuckled nervously before sitting down next to him.

"Oh okay! Well, I thought you may have been freaking out about the overnight stay with me. Which would be understandable since we've only known about each other for two weeks." Omari chuckled putting his hand on top of mine.

"But just remember nothing will happen unless you want it to happen. So with that being said, I'm going to go take a shower. Unless you want to take one first?" Omari asked.

"I'll take one first…" I said getting up and moving over to my overnight bag. I grabbed my pajamas and toiletries and rushed over to the bathroom.

I stripped down and walked into the shower. The hot water felt great against my skin. I guess I didn't realize how I had gotten over the course of the day. I rinsed off the soap on my body quickly to hop into the bathtub to soak for a few minutes.

Being in the bath gave me a few moments to think. I was naked in Omari's bathtub in his apartment. I was about to sleep next to him for the night. Did I want to have sex with him? I still don't even know how I feel about him completely. What feelings did I have for him?

He was certainly attractive and I felt attracted to him. Every time I saw him I would feel flutters in my stomach and my heart would race. So I had to have some sort of feelings for him. I liked him for sure, but did I love him? I always told myself I would give up myself for someone I loved. However, that was also before the matchmaking program came into place when everybody had to find "the one" on their own.

I stood up in the bathtub. If we end up having sex, then so be it. I try to take a step out of the bathtub and end up slipping back into the bathroom.

"Oh damn!"