Jinsu woke up wondering where on earth she now stood with Byun Baekhyun.  She was pretty sure that the events of the previous night had not been a dream – there was still a half full glass of water that he’d placed on the floor and that she hadn’t tidied away since she was so dazed in the aftermath of the kiss – and even if they had been, she was pretty sure that her face would still be flaming just at the thought of seeing him a little later on.

This wasn’t like Sehun where she’d almost never interacted with him and was at liberty to admire him from afar.  She interacted with Baekhyun all the time.  They needed each other’s help with things.  They spent time together.  Jinsu would even have gone as far as to hazard that they were actually pretty good friends, all things considered.  And the last thing she wanted to do was lose all that.

Part of the problem was that nobody had ever shown that kind of interest in her before, and Baekhyun was one of the last people on earth she would have expected it from, given their families’ history.  She didn’t know how to deal with it.  If she hadn’t happened to have possibly the biggest crush she’d ever experienced on him, Jinsu reckoned it wouldn’t have been too much of a problem to politely intimate that she wasn’t interested and to leave it at that, but she did actually have an enormous crush and that just complicated everything.  She knew that it shouldn’t be a problem because it hadn’t really been for the past couple of weeks (except it also sort of had, because she kept getting tongue-tied around him), but for some reason, the prospect of having to speak to Baekhyun at some point during the day terrified her.  What if she made a fool out of herself?  What if he decided the previous evening had been a mistake?  What if he’d only done it because he’d been in an emotional state?  What if she’d been such a horrible kisser he wasn’t interested in her anymore?

Jinsu had just finished going through the whole dilemma of what to wear (the cupboard had been stocked up with non-military-regulation clothing while she’d been out the previous day and some of it was actually quite nice) when there was a rap on the door and Amber poked her head in.

“That boy’s here for you,” she said with blatant disapproval.

Jinsu’s heart leapt into .  It wasn’t very hard to work out who that boy might be.  Sure enough, when Amber retreated, there was another knock, this time soft, on the door.  Jinsu scrapped trying to tie her hair back and hastily adjusted her jade pendant.  She’d ditched the military outfit in favour of a light white blouse and jeans.

She opened the door to see Baekhyun standing there and smiling and the world immediately felt a better place.  He looked like he’d barely slept and his hair hadn’t seen a brush for months.  His sleeves were also completely drowning his hands.  She gulped.  Just when had his mismatched sleeve paws become so attractive?

“You look pretty,” he told her, and Jinsu nearly died.  “I found out where breakfast is.  Want to come?”

Mutely, Jinsu nodded.  Baekhyun slipped his hand into Jinsu’s, ignoring a disapproving glare from Amber, and started off down the corridor.  Amber trailed three metres behind, hand resting on the gun holstered at her hip.  They were around the first corner, Amber not yet round it too, when Baekhyun spoke again.

“You seem stressed.”

“About what?” Jinsu squeaked in response, defensive, before realising it was a dumb question.

“If I know you, you’re overthinking things,” Baekhyun said before lowering his voice, “so I thought  we should talk about yesterday.”

Now panicking, Jinsu nearly ground to a halt.  She had no personal experience to draw on, but in films and books, this always appeared to be the point where there was a massive misunderstanding or the two parted ways.  Quite often both.  And from the gossip she’d overheard at school among girls in bathrooms, the words “we need to talk” spelt doom in any relationship.

Some of that must have shown on her face because Baekhyun squeezed her hand gently.

“Yesterday was not a mistake, and it wasn’t me being emotional,” he said.  “That’s literally all you need to know.  I would kiss you again, but Amber’s staring and I don’t think you want an audience.”

Jinsu checked quickly over her shoulder to see that Baekhyun was right.  An unexpected wave of disappointment surged over her.

“So there’s no need to try second-guessing my intentions, okay?”

Jinsu nodded.  He reached across and pinched her cheek lightly.

“Ah, screw it,” he mumbled with a tiny smile, leaning across to land a light peck on Jinsu’s lips.   She nearly froze in surprise.

“So are we. . . ?”  Jinsu’s train of thought evaporated before she could get the full way through her question and she stared numbly at him for a few moments as they continued walking.

“We’re cool,” said Baekhyun happily.  “So long as you’re cool.”

“Ah.”  Jinsu nodded.  It made Baekhyun laugh.

“‘Ah,’” he mimicked, teasing her.  “It’s not something intellectual or hard to understand.”

Jinsu blushed.  “A-are we. . .” she stuttered, and suddenly it was very hard to look at him.

“Together?  Dating?”  Baekhyun guessed.  “If you want to be.  That’s your decision.”

Jinsu nodded furiously, her face going even redder.

“You’re adorable,” he murmured, squeezing her hand gently.

Jinsu’s face went more beetroot and heated than she had thought was humanly possible.  Baekhyun’s shoulder rubbed against hers as he stepped a little closer to her while they walked along.  Jinsu’s lips started tingling again.  She peeked up at him, and he cocked a cheeky eyebrow at her.

“Why do you like me?” Jinsu blurted out.  She hadn’t even realised she was wondering about that, and she hastily covered , mortified.  That wasn’t something you were supposed to ask somebody.  Particularly not if you knew them well.

Baekhyun pulled her hands down without much effort.  “Should I not?”

Trying to save face, Jinsu turned away instead.  “You used to ha