"Tell her that I can pay for some of it tomorrow so she shouldn't stress, okay?" I told my brother down the phone as I walked home from the cafe. Tomorrow I would get today's pay and hopefully it would be enough to send the collectors away for a while.

As I turned the corner to my road, someone suddenly grabbed my wrist and pinned me to the wall with both their arms. He leaned over me with inches of space between us so I could escape. My heart started to hammer loudly against my chest and I began to panic. But I calmed down when I noticed a familiar scent.

"Woohyun what are you doing-" I began but he instantly shushed me and pressed his finger against my lips and then swiftly leaned against me so all I could see was his chest.

"Don't say anything," he hissed, looking cautiously over his shoulder. "They're here."

Realizing the situation, I quickly ducked and buried my face into his shoulder. From down the street I could hear an arguement.

"No wait!" the voice of my mother cried desperately. "Don't take it, I can give you your money!"

"Then give it to us," a cold rough voice sounded. "Where is it?"

"Uh...It's not on me. But I can promise you that tomorrow morning I'll have it! My daughter will bring it tomorrow, she said so!"

"Tomorrow isn't good enough! We've waited weeks and you refused everyday. We'll be taking this now and the rest if you fail to cough up so you better find the money soon," another voice spat rudely.

"No don't-"

"Do you or do you not have the money?" the first guy said.

"I don't but my daughter does and she'll sort this out, I promise!" my mum pleaded desperately. I gasped and bit my lip and Woohyun softened his stance above me in response. He turned to me with worried eyes.

"Well then tomorrow we'll be coming for your daughter. And if she can't pay up then we might even just take her!" the man sneered. Both of them laughed maliciously and I cringed, my heart racing uncontrollably. Woohyun clenched his fists beside my face with his expression dark and hostile. He moved closer to me protectively until his torso was pressed against me and I could feel his warm breath in my hair.

As the two men walked past us I shivered. They gave us strange looks that seemed like they were about to realize I was that said daughter. "Hey is that-" one guy began. Woohyun instantly leaned over me so my whole view was taken up by him and they couldn't see me. His breath brushed gently across my face and his eyes told me not to worry and to trust him. The two chuckled viciously. "Those two are eager! Ah, young love... " they laughed as they turned the corner.

A good while after they had gone, Woohyun still hadn't moved. I didn't say anthing to make him either. "I think they've gone now," he whispered, dropping his arms from the wall and stepping back. I stared at him sheepishly and he returned a warm eyesmile.

"Ugh, thank you. For helping me," I mumbled, biting my lip awkwardly.

"I had to," he said. "I didn't realize it was this bad..."

"Me neither. What do I do?" I said to myself, staring longingly around the corner. Woohyun tilted his head and scratched his neck as if he wanted to say something. "What is it?"

"Well if you're having financial issues....I could help out. I am a CEO afterall-"

"No. It's fine. I can sort this out myself and I don't want to owe you. Thank you anyway but I have a job now at Cafe Chocolat so I can pay for the rent without help."

"Cafe.....Chocolat?" Woohyun asked curiously. A smirk slowly spread across his face and he turned away to chuckle quietly.

"What's so funny?" I frowned.

"I own Cafe Chocolat. That's one chain of Cafes that belong to Nam Coorps so I guess I'm your boss, Haneul!" he laughed lightheartedly. I widened my eyes in shock and winced from embarassment. "Well I'm helping you in some way then." I nodded and tried to laugh naturally but it came out weird. He noticed and stopped laughing. "Don't worry, Haneul. It's fine. And you know what, since I know your situation I'll send you a dress for the party myself so there's no need to spend extra."

"This is a bit awkward..." I mumbled. He shook his head and slung his arm around my shoulder as we walked to our houses.

"No it's not. I'll treat you like I always do, not as my employee but as..." he laughed trailing off at the end. I grinned and looked up at me as he avoided my gaze.

"As what? What am I to you?" I pushed. His arm tensed around my shoulders and quickly dropped it.

"Well I'm home now. See you around, Haneul!" he suddenly cried, ducking behind me and running into his house. I laughed and shook my head. Why doesn't he just say it? Does he still think I'd reject him? Maybe I was a bit harsh in the past...

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I was genuinely shocked the first thing in the morning when I found Sungyeol huddled up on the ground by the doorstep of the cafe. He looked like he was sleeping like a homeless person but I assumed he was waiting for the coffee shop to open.

I squatted down in front of him and poked his milky tofu cheek which caused him to stir and flicker his eyes open. He blinked a few times at me and eventually opened his eyes widely in shock.

"Ha-Haneul? What are you doing here?!" he stuttered, making to get up but instead falling a bit and sitting back on the ground with a thump. I giggled and propped my head on my hands, grinning at his childish shock.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? How long have you been waiting here?" I said, standing up and typing in the code to open the door. As soon as the number pad turned green I opened the door and let the both of us in.

"Not that long," he mumbled unconvincingly, breathing into his hands to warm them up. "I come here every morning for my coffee. Hey- how come you know the door code? Do you work here now?"

I nodded as I hung up my coat and walked behind the counter to turn on the coffee machines. "Yeah it's a part time job. I started yesterday afternoon."

He followed me and watched me suspiciously as I made a cup of coffee for him. After I handed it to him, he narrowed his eyes with a grin and then took a sip, tapping his lips cheekily when pretending to assess it.

"Hmm..not bad. It tastes different from my usual but.... a good different I guess. But you need practice," he said, sounding like he was reviewing my skills. I laughed and brushed off his sort of compliment.

All day, Sungyeol kept me company, insisting he wasn't busy. I laughed everytime he'd make of the strange customers and pouted everytime he's make of  my coffee making skills. Even so, he never failed to make me smile. Time quickly flew by with Sungyeol around until it was finally time to leave.

"Haneul-ssi! Oh welcome, sir!" Hara chirped as she walked into the cafe to take over her shift. I bit my lip, thinking it was a bit late for a welcome since he had been here even before the place opened. "Here's the pay for today and yesterday. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she said, handing me an envelope. I took it with a bow and picked up my coat.

"You ready to go? I'll walk you home," Sungyeol said happily, extending his hand. I took it without hesitation, wrapping my fingers around his hand, wondering why it felt so comfortable. He grinned all the way out of the cafe and didn't stop even when we'd left the mall and reached the main road.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked him, looking up and studying his expression meticulously. His eyes travelled down to me from his height and looked at me quizzically.

"Can't I be happy if I want?" he joked. I sighed, shaking my head and shoving him a little. For some reason, he lost his balance and tripped into the road. I laughed hysterically as his eyes widened and he tried to brush off the emarassment and smoothly act as if it didn't just happen. "No one saw that."

"How can someone not see that idiocy?! I shoved you a tiny bit and you almost fell over!" I said, still laughing. He shot me a glare and barred his teeth in disgust. When I didn't stop laughing, he took his turn to shove me into the road.

I pouted and styled it out nicely before returning to walking in a straight line. I walked past him with a huff and my nose held high which just made him laugh at me even more. In the end we were both laughing like mad people, and resultantly got many disapproving stares.

"Hey, Haneul?" Sungyeol mumbled, suddenly sounding nervous and hesitant. I wondered why his mood had changed so dramatically.

"Yeah?"

"Umm..." he began, scratching the back of his neck and avoiding looking at me directly. "Do- do y-you know about Woohyun's party?"

"Oh yeah, I do! He invited me as his guest actually," I said matter of factly. His face dropped and he lowered his head disappointedly.

"Oh, right." I felt bad thinking he was probably going to ask me to go with him. To save his embarassment, I tried to make a suggestion.

"You're going, right? Why don't you ask Sungjong to be your date?" I said giggling on the inside. Sungyeol sighed in regret, not even laughing a tiny bit. He pouted and looked at me with upset eyes.

"I can't," he muttered with a huff. "Myungsoo took him. Not even fair. Myungsoo could of asked me to go with him but he just had to..." he trailed off angrily. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"Okay," I said, regreting already what I was resorting to. Though it was horrible to suggest another girl for Sungyeol to ask out, I had to do this favour for him and save him from embarassment. Through gritted teeth I said, "Well, why don't you ask Nara?"

Though I tried to sound positive, he didn't look cheered up at all. Instead he faced me with an irritated expression.

"I'm not going out with Nara anymore so I can't do that. She got all whiny that I was spending so much time with you so I dumped her. I don't really have many options...."

As I opened my mouth to protest, he suddenly burst out with the one thing I was praying he wouldn't suggest. "Hey, what about I ask Soyeon?" His eyes lit up with a pleading hope that twinkled brightly; one I couldn't refuse. My heart clenched up and I had to restrain from shouting out my anger and disapproval.

I sighed in defeat at his desperate expression and nodded with a heavy head. "Yeah, I guess you could ask her." Even though it pained me, I cared about Sungyeol too much to let my personal experiences get in the way of his life. I'd have to put up with Soyeon for one night and pray all would go smoothly...

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"The money, woman. The money!!" Someone raged from the other side of the door as I stood outside of my house. It was the collectors again. "If you don't have it then we'll take this instead, that was the deal!"

"We never made a deal! Give it back now! Just wait, please, until my daughter arrives home," my mother's voice sounded. I sighed as I took out my keys and fumbled to open the door.

"We have waited. We've waited two weeks already and you haven't given us the money. We aren't going to wait until your supposed daughter comes home. What if she doesn't have it? HUH?! We're taking this now!"

"No! That doesn't belong to you!"

"It does now! It's either we take all this stuff or you can be good and give us the money you owe us," another voice said. I pushed the key into the lock and opened the door quietly to an aweful scene. My mother was clutching onto one end of a flat paper box while one of the two men was holding the other. The other one had grabbed my mum and was trying to pry her off it. My younger brother was standing terrified in the kitchen.

"You can't take this! Absolutely not! This is my daughter's present!" my mum yelled, pulling at the box with all her strength. Suddenly, she saw me and let out a breath of relief. "She's here!"

The two men spun around and grinned evilly at me. I shivered from their disgusting stares and glared at them warningly, daring them to take a step towards me. The bigger one took a lunge and grabbed me from behind, holding my two wrists together behind my back.

"LET GO!" I screamed, kicking him from behind. He released momentarily, then only to grab me again with the help of his friend. "I said let go!!"

"Your coward of a mother won't give us the money so she's sacrficing you instead. Isn't that right, disgusting mother?" one guy sneered.

"Don't you dare say that about my mother!" I spat at him, thrashing around.

"We'll be taking you now. You'll be very useful for us," the guy said maliciously, wiping his face where I'd spat at him. "Or you could pay us now."

"Here!" I yelled, pulling out the envelope I'd earned and throwing it by their feet. They released me and picked it up, snickering to each other. I'm sure they were very pleased with the ideas they had of my 'uses'. "Take your stupid money and leave now, filth!"

They left quickly, turning around one last time with that same disgusting sneer. "We'll be coming again for next week! Be prepared by then!"

As soon as the door slammed shut, all three of us slumped down the wall and lay on the floor with a sigh. The whole ordeal had exhausted everyone in the space of a few minutes. I looked over at my mum who was still clutching onto that paper box.

"Are you crazy?! You should have just given that stupid bow to them like they asked! What if they hurt you?!" I bretathed out angrily to my mother who was heaving hard and had beads of sweat all over her forehead. She turned to me with a tired but warm smile.

"Oh no. I could give this resent to them. It belongs to you," she said, sliding the bow across the floor to me. "It's something precious that I could never let those dirty hands touch. Our neighbours sent it over for you to wear tonight."

"Our neighbours?" I whispered, realizing what the contents must be.Carefully, I lifted the lid and gasped. It was the dress that Woohyun promised he send to me to wear for the party, except it was so much more than I had ever imagined.

It was composed using the most luxurious and expensive black satin into three front panels that formed a heart shaped neck-line and ended mid-thigh. The straps were embellished with gorgeous onyx stones that went over the shoulders and all the way back down to the waist where the dress ended, leaving it backless. On the edges of the straps and the hem, it was also decorated with an intricate rose patterned lace. I hadn't a dress that was so breath-takingly beautiful in years.

My mother and brother stared, mesmorized as my eyes began to brim with tears of amazement. I looked at them through the glossy tears and gave a crazy smile.

"Wow! What is that for, noona?" Jinho asked, his eyes twinkling.

"It's the present that I'll be wearing. I'm invited to a very special event."

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Here is the dress, I drew it up myself since I couldn't find a similar existing one! ^^ ~~~~~~~> http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/070/a/f/haneul__s_dress_by_nijikuma_kun-d4sfnmi.jpg