In all honesty, when Paul Kuromiya lent Dawn Hiranchai his jacket, she was not expecting him to ever do such a thing to her out of all the people in their university. For starters, they hated each other's guts even though they were in the same group. Additionally, in their friend group, they had the most significant size difference, with him being the tallest and most muscular and her being the shortest and slimmest. So, it was no surprise to either of them that his signature purple and black jacket would be severely oversized, almost engulfing her entire body.
However, another thing that she did not expect was to find his black iPod. Out of plain, genuine curiosity, she decided to go through the music downloaded on the device, and what she saw was a most unexpected pleasant surprise. There were multiple playlists created to curate a selection of certain songs, but one of the playlists stood out to her. The playlist was named Dawn's Delightful Dilemma, and this piqued her interest because, in their years of knowing one another, he had never once called her by her given name. Instead, he would refer to her as Troublesome due to the fact that he found her to be annoying and difficult to deal with, but a similar thing could be said about him, as he was abrasive and unfriendly.
Connecting the iPod to her own pair of earbuds that were hot pink and glittery, a far cry from the plain black earbuds Paul normally wore, she began to play the songs on Dawn's Delightful Dilemma.
The first song was none other than Worth It by Fifth Harmony, which was one of Dawn's most beloved childhood musical classics due to the fact that her much older cousin, Mitsumi Kitti, would play such songs while going out for a drive, regardless of who was in the passenger seat with her or sitting in the back of her car. One time, when Dawn and Paul were ten years old, Mitsumi played this song, and only she and Dawn sang along to the lyrics while Paul and the other person in the backseat, Barry Tochimaka, remained quiet. It wasn't until I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys played that Barry and his older cousin, Jun Tochimaka, who sat in the passenger seat next to Mitsumi, began to join in on the sing-along session. Years later, Dawn would look upon that memory with a special fondness because days after that special car ride, Jun proposed to Mitsumi, making Dawn and Barry kin since they were connected by marriage through their cousins.
The second and third songs on the playlist were Gee by Girls Generation, as he had both languages of the song present. When Dawn was eleven years old, she had somehow convinced all of her female friends, May Calderia, Leaf Greengrass, Misty Windsor, Serena Lafontaine, and Iris Adhikari, to perform a dance routine with her to the two versions. Much to the girls' annoyance, the boys, Paul Kuromiya, Drew Laurent, Gary Oak, Ash Ketchum, Clemont Delevingne-Bellucci, and Trip Fitzgerald, had watched the entire performance, and much to the boys' shock, the girls did a rather good job dancing along to the songs.
The fourth song was Bad Boy by Cascada, which was one of the many iconic Cascada songs Dawn would sing out loud during lunchtime because when they were twelve years old, students who were brave enough to sing in front of their schoolmates for weekly lunchtime karaoke would be rewarded with pink rose charms which could be saved up and used to claim certain prizes. From the ages of twelve to fourteen, Dawn had accumulated multiple Pokémon plushies as a result of her consistent weekly singing, and she had spent all of her pink rose charms in exchange for prizes, redeeming all of the school karaoke currency she had on her.
There were many more songs she listened to, and with each and every song, there were memories attached to them, and Paul always happened to be involved in all of them. The last song, however, did not involve Paul. Or, at least, that's what she thought. The last song was none other than Lost in Stereo by All Time Low, and this particular song was something Dawn had been listening to for more than a decade. For the past thirteen years, Dawn has been listening to this song, and as a result, she knows all of the lyrics by heart. Even without hearing the instrumentals, she could hum along to the tune and sing the vocals.
"She's out of control, so beautiful," sang Dawn aloud, who had her eyes closed as she danced to the music.
However, before she could finish the final chorus of the song, someone else sang it for her, "And, I've been waiting for so long, she'll never know…I'm losing hope 'cause she's so lost in stereo. Lost in stereo."
Opening her eyes, she was met with the sight of none other than twenty-year-old Paul Kuromiya, who had an unfamiliar expression on his face. He had his hand out, and immediately, Dawn knew what was expected of her. Taking off her earbuds, she handed him back his black iPod. He stared at the iPod before placing it in his pocket; then he stared back at her.
"I suppose you want your jacket too, huh?"
He nodded his head in answer. Taking off the jacket, which she had still kept on during the entirety of her private music festival, she handed it back to him.
"I'm surprised you still wore my jacket during the entirety of your concert," remarked Paul before snorting, "You would think that one would be all hot and sweaty from all that dancing, but you're not."
Shrugging her shoulders, she told him, "Well, I've been dancing since forever, so I don't sweat as much as non-dancers would."
"Tell me, Troublesome, what treasures did you find in my iPod?"
Biting her lip, she contemplated the right words to say to him. Finally, she mustered up the courage to say what's been on her mind since she heard the very first song on his playlist.
"Your playlist, Dawn's Delightful Dilemma…It has all of my favorite songs in there…Then, it had me thinking about all of the years we've known each other and all of the time you've witnessed me singing and dancing to those songs…You've been in my life for a long so of course, you're someone important to me even if we're not exactly best friends…It's just that the last song, Lost in Stereo is my all-time favorite song, and I don't think I've ever sung or danced to this song in front of you before."
This time, it was his turn to admit something, "That's because you haven't done it purposefully. You'd have never been aware of the fact that I know what your favorite song is if it weren't you having my iPod."
"How did you know it is my favorite song, though?"
Looking anywhere but at her, he answered, "I found a video of you singing and dancing to the song on TikTok last week. I will say that I prefer seeing you as a solo artist since the last time you were posted online was when you and the others were performing Worth It, and the video was on YouTube, and that was back when we were all juniors in high school. I do not know why Misty's older sisters ever thought it was okay to dress you all up as showgirls from casinos."
"Would you rather we dress up as the women from that one particular neighborhood in Veilstone instead? Hooker Central, if you will!"
"No." Groaning, he combed his bangs with his fingers before continuing, "I can't believe I am telling you this, but I think you look your best in those Winx Club pajamas."
This time, it was her turn to groan. "Wait, did you say Winx Club pajamas? Mitsumi's cousin must have been the one to upload that video of me on TikTok then, because those are her pajamas, and I wore those when I slept over that one time last month! I only ever wear Naruto pajamas these days because Drew's mother bought an extra pair, and he didn't want them, so she let me have them instead."
"You're seriously saying that you wear Naruto pajamas?"
"Yes, I do."
"Damn it, you and Ash Ketchum have matching tastes in pajamas then."
"Don't forget about Lucas, Barry, and Kenny, all five of us have the exact same Naruto pajama sets!"
He his eyes at her. "That's pathetic…Imagine having to match what you wear to bed to those four."
"Whatever." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not so bad having that in common with your cousin and best friends." Batting her eyelashes at him, she asked him in a saccharine voice, "So…I guess you're a fan of the music videos that I'm in?"
"Sure, whatever helps you keep dreaming at night."
She pouted, "Come on, don't be like that…Tell me the truth, Paulto Kuromiya, why did you create that playlist in the first place?"
"Isn't it obvious by now?"
"Is what obvious?"
Taking a deep sigh, he muttered, "That you mean something special to me, that's what."
Her eyes widened for the second time. "Wait, what? Really? No way!"
His cheeks began to redden. "Unfortunately, that is the truth. I never thought you'd one day find the playlist, but I made it ever since we were ten years old…The day after I got my iPod, I took it to school since it was the first day…And, there you were, singing to Lost in Stereo…You didn't see me since you were too busy singing and dancing along to the song, but I sure did…I knew you were trouble from the moment I saw you, and I was right. Still, it's only you who makes me go crazy, and I wouldn't change a thing."
"Oh, Paul," she whispered, "I never thought the feelings would be mutual…Maybe if I were more optimistic about things, then, we would have sorted things out then than now."
Before either of them could say anymore, their heartfelt moment and serious conversation were interrupted by none other than Mitsumi and Jun, whom Dawn had forgotten would be coming to her house later.
"Hey Dawni-Dawnu, you left your front door open," shouted Jun, entering the room with his wife and stopping short at the scene in front of him.
"What's the matter with you? Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" questioned Mitsumi before her eyes landed on the quiet young couple. "Oh, I see…Well, sorry about that, you two…Don't mind us! We can just always come back again another time!"
Grabbing Mitsumi's hand, Jun said one last thing to them, "You didn't hear this from me, but I always knew that you, Paul, were always going to be Dawn's future husband! Please, I beg of you, don't tell Barry that I said that…He's been hoping that he'd marry Dawn since I married Mitsumi…Honestly, I think he and Lucas have a better romantic connection, but that's just me, of course."
"I second that," agreed Mitsumi, "You and Paul belong together just like how Barry and Lucas do!"
With that, the two of them left, leaving Dawn and Paul alone to themselves.
"What was that all about?"
She explained with a laugh, "They were supposed to help me plan out the dance routine that the others and I will be doing for charity. Misty's sisters were the ones to suggest we do another performance like the Fifth Harmony one, except this time, it would be family-friendly since it's at the old Bloomington Theater downtown, which is right across the street from the children's hospital, so those children would be coming to attend the performance we have in their honor since the money is going to them." Giving him a grin, she added, "Well, since you've seen videos of me, maybe you can help me plan it all out instead! What do you think of us wearing Naruto pajamas and doing ninja choreography?"
"I think not."
"Aww…Well, that's too bad because you and I both grew up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Naruto, and LEGO Ninjago! And, besides, Ash's been telling us for years to do a performance relating to ninjas so why not? I'm sure it'd be a hit with the kids."
"At least you're not in those stupid skirts," mumbled Paul, not loud for Dawn to hear, however.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"I thought so."
For the remainder of his time there, he listened to every single idea Dawn suggested to him, and he shared with her his thoughts and opinions. As to what would happen to their current relationship, it was yet to be decided as they would need time to sort and figure themselves and their feelings out. But, based on how much lighter and easier they seemed to be interacting with one another, it was safe to say that things were on the right track. Perhaps, in time, they would become an established couple soon enough. With Dawn recently getting her driver's license, it was a definite guarantee that girly bubblegum pop music would be playing in both her car and his car. Until then, Paul was grateful that his iPod and jacket went to the right woman with the right pair of ears.
The End.