“Are you leaving?” Kikwang asked as he glanced over to Min.

She grabbed her bag and turned to him.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later. I’ll be home late…”

Kikwang took in her words and simply nodded.

“I’ll wait for you here then. Do you want me to pick you up later?”

She paused before she turned away.

“No…I can just walk with a friend.”

They stared at each other before Min smiled and Kikwang smiled too. She grabbed the last of her things and then left, closing the door behind her.

Kikwang turned his attention back to the television and sighed. He had been cooped up inside his apartment for the last couple of days, feeling guilty yet alone. He tried his best not to think about Hyosung and that night when they had made their mutual feelings known. Kikwang sighed and then stood up from his couch, making his way towards his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway, surprising himself as he looked around the room. It was the first time he noticed how Min had changed the room completely. He noticed that her clothes, shoes and makeup took up space in his room. He wondered why he never noticed before.

“I’m just going crazy” he whispered to himself before he threw himself on the bed.

His hand unconsciously went underneath his pillow and came in contact with something. He pulled it out from underneath his pillow and held it up above his face. He smiled as he saw an earring, Hyosung’s earring to be exact. He didn’t notice it that night but when he was taking off his shirt, it slipped out and landed at his feet. He guessed it probably got stuck when he carried her.

Kikwang ran his fingers over the earring and let out a bitter chuckle before he stuffed it back underneath his pillow and closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep; he didn’t want to think of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hyosung snapped her head back.

“Hmm?”

Joon smiled at her and playfully ruffled her hair.

“I asked you if you wanted to go and eat lunch somewhere. What has your mind so occupied?”

Hyosung briefly thought of someone else. She forced a smile and fixed her hair.

“I was just thinking about what to do for the winter break. Today was the last day of school for the semester.”

Joon’s eyes brightened.

“Really? Great, we can spend more time together now.”

Hyosung didn’t respond and merely watched as Joon walked around the apartment.

“So what do you want to eat?” he asked, looking around at his kitchen.

They both knew he didn’t have any food. Hyosung stretched and smiled at him.

“Let’s just walk around the town and see what we find.”

Joon smiled at her idea and immediately agreed. He laced his fingers with her and quickly made his way out the apartment. They walked down the street, not finding anything to their liking. They continued to walk until they were finally in another part of town. Hyosung looked around at the area and finally noticed a nice looking restaurant. They walked into the restaurant and smiled at the nice atmosphere. Joon smiled down at Hyosung before he looked past her and smiled even wider.

“Kikwang-ah!”

Hyosung instantly froze and felt her stomach drop. She didn’t dare to turn around to look at him. Joon nudged her and she looked up at him.

“Hyung.”

Her heart beat increased from the closeness of Kikwang’s voice.

“Oh, Hyosung-ah, hello.”

She finally turned and looked at him, which was instantly a mistake. Their eyes locked in a heated gaze. He smiled at them.

“What are you guys doing on this side of town?” he asked, his eyes briefly looking at their joined hands.

Hyosung suddenly felt the urge to pull away from Joon.

“We were looking for a place to eat and somehow ended up here. Are you here to eat too?” asked Joon.

“I came to pick up some food. I was going to eat at home” replied Kikwang.

“Oh. Too bad, I wanted to share a meal with you” responded Joon.

Kikwang laughed a little, his eyes briefly centering on Hyosung.

“We could eat at my apartment if you like. I’ll wait while you order your food.”

Joon smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, let’s do that. Hyosung-ah, I’ll order the food, you can go with Kikwang-ah and wait for me at his apartment.

“Joonie, I can just wait here with you” she replied in a slight panicked voice but Joon waved her off.

“It’s okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Hyosung glanced at Kikwang but he wasn’t even looking at her.

“Don’t worry, just come with me and we can wait for him at the apartment” he said.

Hyosung bit her lip and nodded, finally letting go of Joon’s hand. She followed behind Kikwang as they exited the restaurant and made their way to his place. She could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest and looked up to glance at him for a while but he was just looking ahead. They stayed silent even when they entered his apartment and he shut the door. He walked past her and placed the bag of food on his kitchen counter. He turned to look at her, surprised to see her staring at him. He almost smiled.

“Don’t stare at me with those eyes…I might do something.”

She felt a lump in but refused to look away. He turned away from her.

“Sit down. Joon-hyung should be here soon.”

She could hear the bitter and amused tone in his voice. She sat down on the couch and waited in silence for something to be said or for something to happen. Then she heard his voice.

“Have you thought of me?”

The question caught her by surprise. Her heart beat rose up and she felt dry up. He sounded far away, as if the distance would lessen his emotions. Hyosung bit her lip.

“Yes” she whispered, hoping he didn’t hear her.

There was a long pause.

“Only when you’re alone or when you’re with him?” he asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Sort of.”

“Both.”

“Is your relationship going well?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled and she smiled at the sound.

“I guess that’s good news” he replied.

“You think?” she asked, surprised at her sudden confidence.

“What I think and what I feel are different. When I saw you both at the restaurant, I thought it was nice to see you both happy but I felt jealousy because I can’t hold your hand like that.”

Hyosung bit her lip. There was a long pause and then he suddenly came into the living room. She looked at him and he looked at her. He was the first to look away.

“What am I going to do?” he asked and ran a hand through his hair.

Hyosung was about to respond but the sudden knock at the door interrupted them. Kikwang turned to Hyosung and smiled.

“He’s here, right on time.”

He opened the door and Hyosung watched as Joon entered the apartment with a smile on his face and bags of food in his hands. She stood and helped them with the bags.

“Thanks” he whispered and shyly placed a kiss on the corner of .

He walked past her and into the kitchen. Hyosung didn’t notice. She was looking at Kikwang. He looked away from her eyes. This was almost too much for him. He walked past her too, refusing to look at her. She watched him as he past her, her hand almost reaching out to stop him but she pulled back and he noticed. He plastered a smile on his face as he headed into the kitchen.

 “Hyung, let’s eat. I’m hungry!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kikwang glanced at the clock before he pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number. The phone rang a couple of times and right when he was going to hang up, Min finally picked up.

“Kikwang-ah…”

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

“Yeah” she replied.

The moment turned quiet.

“Are you coming home soon?” he asked.

“…Almost.”

“Be careful then.”

“Yeah.”

They both stopped talking. This was the part where they usually said ‘I love you’ but for some reason, they both couldn’t bring themselves to say it.

“Bye” he said.

Min merely made a sound and then hung up. Strangely enough, that didn’t bother Kikwang. He tossed his cellphone off to the side and stared at the spot on the couch where Hyosung had sat down just a few hours before. He sighed in frustration as he recalled their short conversation and how she looked at him when Joon kissed her. Her eyes had pierced his as though they were calling out for him. He suffered when he watched them walk away, their hands intertwined and her eyes no longer on him but on her boyfriend. Kikwang stared at his phone, wondering why he suddenly called Min, when in reality, he hadn’t really thought of her all day. Maybe he was lonely or maybe he just felt compelled to worry for her. Kikwang looked up at the ceiling and re-lived the day. He smiled when he suddenly remembered Hyosung’s voice.

“Have you thought of me?”

“Yes.”

He couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Min didn’t know why, but her eyes couldn’t look at anyone else but him. She didn’t know him but he was one of her friend’s cousin.

“Min-unnie! Hello!!!”

Min looked over at her friend Suzy.

“What?” she asked.

“Was that Kikwang-ssi calling you?” Suzy asked, a sly smile spreading over her face.

Min glanced at the guy sitting across from her. He looked away when she looked at him.

“Yeah. He just called to make sure I ate. No big deal.”

Suzy sighed along with their friends Jia and Fei.

“Min-ah, you have the best boyfriend ever” voiced Fei.

Min waved her hand to brush them off and took a bite of her kimchi. Fei and Jia continued to .

“What’s it like to live with your boyfriend?” asked Jia.

Min blushed, avoiding the guy’s gaze.

“Yah!” she yelled out, causing her friends to laugh.

She looked over at him and Suzy caught on.

“Min-ah, don’t be embarrassed. My cousin doesn’t care. Right Hong Ki?”

Min turned to look at Hong Ki, who was already looking at her. He smiled a little.

“No, I don’t mind” he said, smiling a little more.

Min felt the tips of her ears start to burn. She cleared and slowly started to eat again. She found herself eating slowly because she didn’t want to go home yet. She glanced once more towards Hong Ki.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Something wrong?”

Hyosung looked up at Joon.

“No, I’m just tired.”

“Oh, well it’s a good thing we’re here then” Joon replied and pointed at the door in front of them.

Hyosung pulled out her key and turned to Joon.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked, shuffling his feet a bit.

Hyosung nodded and unlocked her door. She turned around to face Joon and was shocked to find him already very close to her. He leaned down and as his lips hovered over her lips, she moved slightly. He kissed the corner of but didn’t seem to notice.

“Goodnight” he whispered as he stepped away and smiled.

“Goodnight” she replied before closing the door.

Once inside, she felt a frown on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You live here?” Hong Ki asked as he looked up at the building.

Min looked up at him.

“Yes.”

They stopped walking as they reached the entrance. She turned to him and he smiled.

“Goodnight. It was night meeting you, Lee Min-young.”

Min rubbed her arm and bit her lip.

“Goodnight, Lee Hong Ki. Thank you for walking me home.”

He smiled and they stared at each other for a small moment before he finally turned away and she walked inside. She walked into her apartment a while later with a smile on her face. As she closed the door, she saw Kikwang walking out into the living room and her smile disappeared.

“Oh, you’re home.”

“Yeah.”

He looked at the clock.

“It’s pretty late” he said.

“You call this late?” she asked and walked past him.

“It’s almost midnight” he replied and followed after her.

“Really?” she asked, genuinely surprised.

She looked at him and managed a smile. Kikwang just shook his head.

“I’m going to bed” he said and went into the room.

When Min finally got ready for bed, she was glad to find him already asleep. She turned off the lights and pulled the covers over herself. She closed her eyes, smiling as she recalled the day she spent away from Kikwang.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so the distancing begins!!! Sorry if this chapter was a little…BLEH. It’s like 4am over here! Anyway, I actually liked this chapter a lot because everyone is changing now, which means I’m on my way to my KISUNG. And for my Min lovers….I gave you HONG KI!!!! I personally am a MINKI shipper!! Depending on the response, I might make him show up more! Sorry I took so long to update. My computer had a virus, so I had to reboot it, but everything is all good now! Expect an update in a day or two!!

********Chapter song inspiration time!!! Okay, seriously, I have not been able to stop listening to this song since it came out! I really wanted to use it in this story and I finally had my chance!