chapter 7 : heart of chocolates

14th February 2016.

Hayi carefully placed each of the handmade chocolates into the box she had specifically bought the other day. It was a bright pink heart-shaped box with a Minnie Mouse character on the lid of the box. She purposely picked the most eye-catching box so it would be a present Hanbin could never forget. Hayi did not plan for any this. Blame Lee Soohyun for dragging her and before she knew it she was already wearing an apron and pouring the chocolate liquid into their moulds like a housewife. Indeed, the younger had much force on her than she thought.

"And done!" Soohyun proudly announced as she closed her box. "Hehe, oppa is going to love these!" she was going to give them to Jinhwan but since she herself did not have any baking skills, she decided to drag her favourite Hayi unnie into this as an excuse to give it to Hanbin as well. It was no easy task because Hayi never really like doing events or giving cute presents like these to Hanbin. It wasn't really her. Hanbin was the same too, he rarely went for extravagant surprises but maybe it was because she precisely told she hated them. All the attention that people give just scared her. She preferred if it was just the two of them.

But with lots of aegyo and whining and pretending to know Hanbin's upset feelings of never received something like this from Hayi, Soohyun managed to persuade the elder to join her in making chocolates for the boys for Valentine's Day.

"Unnie what are these?!" Soohyun who was now done with her packaging found chocolates, all sorts of types and shapes to be exact, in a paper bag in Hayi's living room. There were about thirty types in there which made Soohyun curious since Hayi was already making the chocolates she was going to give to Hanbin. "Backup," she simply answered as she brought the Minnie Mouse box to the living room as well. "You know, just in case these ."

Soohyun scoffed, this was the first time she saw a girl who would get 'backup chocolates.' "Even if they , Jinhwan oppa still have to eat my chocolates." Hayi shook her head, "Yeah because you would still force them down his throat whatever happens. Poor Jinhwan oppa." "Unnie!" Soohyun pouted but Hayi just laughed at her dongsaeng.

From: Hanbin

Sorry, gonna be late. Some final touches to do with Seungyoon hyung. -xx

Hayi put her phone into the coat's front pocket as she sighed. Might as well text me before I leave the dorm. She hugged her coat tighter as she decided to go inside a cafe first since it was too cold outside. She pushed the door to the cafe to reveal the lovely decorations of that cafe that she assumed was for Valentine's Day since they were not there last week.

"Noona!" a familiar voice shouted. Hayi looked around amidst the many couples together and spotted him. It was Sam Kim, a dongsaeng from Kpop Star sitting with someone who looked familiar to Hayi but she couldn't exactly pinpoint who the guy was. Nevertheless, she made way to the two who asked her to join them. "Please, noona. Do you know how sad we look like? Two guys in a cafe filled with couples on Valentine's. Do you not see that?"

Hayi decided to accept the offer figuring Hanbin would take a while and it would be nice to have company while waiting. "This is Seunghwan hyung. He joined Antenna last year from the last season of Kpop Star," Sam introduced the latter to which it clicked in Hayi's head. "Ah! Right! I know you. I mean I've seen you on tv. You're really good."

"No, no! You're a much better singer than me," Seunghwan humbly replied. "Hyung! Why are you so nice all of sudden? Oh, right! You're noona's fan, that's why!" Sam exclaimed teasingly. Seunghwan glared at the younger to which Hayi was flustered. She didn't know how to respond to a situation like this.

"What's that, noona?" Sam pointed to the two paper bags she brought, filled with the chocolates. "Aha! Chocolates for your boyfriend, right?" Sam tried to trick Hayi in giving in but she was not that easy. "No, they're for my YG family," she figured that would explain why there were so many chocolates. "You give chocolates to all of the YG artists for Valentine's?" Seunghwan was not buying it obviously. Hayi gulped before confidently answered, "Yes," as if it was the most natural thing ever. Man, dating in secret is challenging my non-existent acting skills.

"Can't you give one bag to us?" Sam was now trying to take a peek at what's inside the bags. "NO!" and there Hayi was busy guarding the damn chocolates for her tardy boyfriend with her life. "Ay, give us just one! One each! Noona~"

The doors to the cafe were swiftly pushed open again, letting the cold air to enter the cafe. The three paid no heed to whoever just walked in. Hayi was too afraid Sam would pounce on one of the bags of chocolate, Sam was too busy teasing his noona because he literally had nothing to do, and Seunghwan, he was just hoping he didn't know the younger. Especially in front of a girl he just met, being with Sam was just too embarassing for him then.

"Yah!" Donghyuk nudged Junhoe which caught the attention of Chanwoo too. As soon as he squinted to get a better look, he immediately dragged the other two to the nearest table and ducked down. "Isn't that the guy that Jinhwan hyung almost murder last time?" Junhoe was now in his yelling-whispering tone. "Yeah, his name was Sam Kim or something like that," Chanwoo answered. "!" Junhoe cursed, thankfully Jinhwan was not around to punish him for the cursing. "Why are we hiding like we're thieves?" Donghyuk could never understand Junhoe's way of thinking. Even though they were the same age, there was something seriously wrong with the latter's head he figured.

Just then, Junhoe straightened his body and smiled mischieviously like an idea just popped inside his head. He took out his phone and Donghyuk was already face-palming. Getting the right angle, he then pressed the snap button and immediately started thinking of a clever caption to be send out with it.

Look, noona's so popular nowadays that she has two dates on Valentine's ^^

Hanbin wasn't intending to check whoever that send his message was but the fact that his eyes caught the sender's name made him do otherwise. Junhoe with a caption like this was never a good thing. He slided his finger on the screen to reveal the picture Junhoe had catch.

You're welcome keke

"Aish..." Hanbin was gritting his teeth already. He didn't know whether he was mad because two boys were surrounding his only love or whether it was because Junhoe was being such a pain the like he always does. Either way, he wasn't letting this to go on any further. Grabbing his coat, he quickly thought of an excuse to go. "Where are you going? I told you we have like a bit more to do," Seungyoon said. "Sorry, hyung. It's an...emergency! Yeah, gotta go now," Hanbin answered.

"Hayi?"

Hanbin's footsteps stopped, "How did you know, hyung?" Seungyoon could only sigh, "It's freaking written all over your face!" Hanbin still showed a shocked expression, was it really that obvious? "Just go! Quickly!" the latter ushered him. "Go and come back, kid!"

"Yes, hyung!"

And just like that Hanbin literally ran straight towards the cafe, huffing and puffing as he introduced himself (as Hayi's best friend) and pulled a chair to sit beside her. "Best friend?" Sam was not buying it, not even a bit. Hayi wished her boyfriend was not so stupid to think of such a title. Why is he a genius composer but an idiot at things like this?

"Yeah. There's not exactly a lot of 96 liners in YG," he tried explaining. "Then you must be best friends with Chanhyuk hyung!" Sam exclaimed excitedly. "Y-yes..." Hanbin hesitated. If that was going to make him believe the story, so be it. "Oh, hyung! You can be friends with this hyung and noona!" Sam said while looking at Seunghwan. "He's a 96 liner too but there's no one the same age with him in Antenna." Hanbin could only smile nervously as Sam explained. "Su-sure, why not..."

Hayi's eyes widened at his statement. She didn't expect for him to say that because not even in her dreams could she imagine the two boys getting along. They were like water and fire, the earth and the sky. Hanbin was the crazy type while Seunghwan was more reserved and quiet. They even sing in different genres. Hip hop versus pure ballad? Not exactly match made in heaven. Besides, she knew Hanbin never made any friends outside of YG and the hip hop world aside from his 'Mari and I' castmates.

"By the way, are you getting one of these, hyung?" Sam asked Hanbin. Why am I your hyung already, kid?

"NO!" Hayi impulsively yelled which startled all three of them. She did not want Sam to link her to Hanbin and before she knew it her dating in secret thing would be dating in public kind of thing. "It's for...Bobby oppa," she was shocked herslf for blurting Bobby's name. She was thinking of Jinhwan but then Sam already knew those two were dating and so the next person that came up on her mind was Bobby.

"Really? Oh, are you admitting that Bobby hyung is your boyfriend?" Sam drawled on the word 'boyfriend' which made Hanbin annoyed. He wished he knew a way to shut the kid's mouth. Why couldn't he be quiet like this dude here? Hanbin messed his hair out of frustration.

"Hayi, let's go back. You have vocal lessons, don't you? It's past three already," it was the only way Hanbin could think of to get both of them out of the cafe. "Y-yes. Right! Vocal lessons!" Hayi was now starting to comprehend the situation. "Gotta go, guys. It was nice meeting you, Seunghwan-ssi."

"Yeah, me too, Hayi-ssi," the slight smile from the latter caused Hanbin to drag Hayi out of the cafe. "Bye guys!" she managed to shout before exiting the cafe.

"Pay up," Chanwoo demanded the money right after Hayi left with Hanbin. It was a miracle the two didn't notice the maknaes were in the cafe, witnessing everything, even hearing everything. Junhoe had to comprehend, he could not believe he lost. "Damn it, I had faith in hyung. I really thought he would create a scene here."

"Hanbin hyung is iKon's leader, he won't do something stupid like that," Chanwoo happily counted his money even though it wasn't much. Donghyuk decided to stay out of the bet, claiming Junhoe was childish for even suggesting such an idea. He would bet on anything else but not this. This was below his standard of betting.

Finally safe inside the YG building, inside one of the dance rooms, Hayi was there with Hanbin. Jinhwan, Yunhyeong and Bobby were there at another corner too, serving as 'excuses.' They had to do this because if they get caught being together alone in a room, they would be on a death sentence as instructed by President Yang. And rumour had it he has eyes everywhere, especially inside the building.

"Is it really for Kimbap?" he asked hesitantly. The truth was he kind of believed it because Hayi said it with much confidence. Hayi smirked as she retrieved the pink Minnie box and handed it to him. Seeing the familiar cartoon character already made his lips twitched. "You must be mistaken. Bobby hyung likes Winnie the Pooh," he joked. "Oh you don't want this? Fine, Bobby opp--" Hanbin immediately covered but it already caught the latter's attention. He just shook his hand as if to say 'nothing.' He then opened the box and found a small card inside it.

To: Mickey Hanbin

I love you xx

From: Your Minnie Mouse

He then looked at her with his mouth pouted to show he was really touched. She just rolled her eyes, preparing herself for all the comments of how she never did stuff like this and how she should do more often. "I made them," she simply stated. He was shocked, almost not believing. "If you don't believe me, ask Soohyun. She forced me in doing this."

"What's that, then?" he asked about the other paper bag. "Just in case these ," she explained but Hanbin just chuckled. He would never have guessed that. With much excitement, he tasted the handmade chocolate, a dark chocolate one so it was slightly bitter. "Ugh, you're right. Thank goodness you bought backups. These do ," he stuck out his tounge as if the taste was horrible.

Hayi exasperated as she shoved the other paper bag to him. Yes, she knew she wasn't good at this and that was why she prepared the other paper bag. But at least Hanbin could have recognized her efforts. She swore she would have pour all the other chocolates she bought onto him if it was just the two of them.

Sensing her change of mood, Hanbin quickly thought of something. "Hyungs! Come here!" he shouted. Once they were there, Hanbin handed them the other paper bag to which they rejoiced. "Why did you give them that?" Hayi was shocked by his action. "I don't need other chocolates when I have the ones you made right here," he said as he popped another chocolate (this one a white one) into his mouth.

And just like that, Hayi's mouth curved upwards again. Hanbin always knew what to say and that was something she was very thankful for (aside from him being overly attached and stupid sometimes). "Thank you, babe," Hanbin said which earned gagged reactions from his hyungs.

"Man, the reason I hate Valentine's Day is because of cheesy couples like you guys!" Yunhyeong commented.

"No man, you just hate it because you don't have a girl," Bobby put a hand on his friend's shoulder as if to comfort him. The others laughed which made Yunhyeong realize he was the only solo then. He grimaced as the truth dawned upon him and opened the candy's wrapper in hopes that at least the sweetness of it would console his heart.

a/n: double update! because I feel the chapter before this was kinda short. reference made to a one-shot I made a long time ago regarding sam kim and jinhwan, so if you wanna check it out click here. this chapter's inspired from this pic from hayi's instagram:

like imagine hanbin getting this many chocolates on valentine's day! he'll get diabetes or something but there's always s, so no worries ;)

and don't forget, hayi's long-awaited (it's 3 frickin years yg...) comeback! on 9th march guys, the album is called seoulite I think. i wish there would be a day when bi features in her song, like that would be so purfecttt <3