You were relaxing on your friend's couch, happily daydreaming, when suddenly the sound of your phone ringing jolted you out of your daze.

"Yeoboseyo," you mumbled lazily, after finally stopping your favorite ringtone Call Me Baby to actually answer the phone.

"Hey, it's me." You instantly recognized your friend, Mina's voice.

"Oh, are you finally off work? Hurry up and come home so we can watch Harry Potter for the millionth time. I'm already here. Popcorn already made. I'm gonna eat all your food before you get here!"

"Um... About that." Mina sounded apologetic, even though you couldn't see her face.

You groaned. "No. I already have the movie set up and everything!"

"Actually," Mina began hesitantly, barely able to conceal her excitement, "I kind of have a date."

"Really?" You squealed into the phone. "Omo. It's Wonho, isn't it? Tell me it's Wonho."

"It's Wonho."

"Yay! I'm so excited for you! You have to tell me everything about it afterwards. I knew you guys were perfect for each other!"

"So-- you aren't mad?"

"Ani. I'll just watch without you and eat your food anyway. Have fun, but not too much fun!" 

"I will! And I think there's a piece of cake in the refrigerator."

"Saranghae, best friend!" 

Mina laughed. "Nado saranghae."

You hung up and reached for the remote to begin your marathon, cramming popcorn into your mouth with your other hand. 

*****************

You were just beginning Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when the front door opened. "Mina, are you home already? It's only 8:30," you called over the sound of Hedwig's Theme, not bothering to look up from the television. Hearing no response, you looked up.

Kim Minseok, Mina's older brother, was standing there looking at you. 

"Oh. Never mind. Sorry, Minseok-oppa, I thought you were Mina," you explained awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it," Minseok replied, with a disarming smile.

You tried not to stare at the good-looking young man before you, but you never could help it. He was just so...handsome. With dark strands of hair, usually neatly-combed, now sweeping casually across his large, round eyes, and the way he was now leaning lazily against the doorframe... Stop it. He's just Mina's brother. You should be used to him by now, you chided yourself. "Uh, do you want to watch Harry Potter?" you offered lamely.

"Sure!" Minseok's eyes lit up with interest. "I want to see Hogwarts for real someday."

As Minseok went to sit on the sofa, you excused yourself and went to the kitchen. Cooling your face with the open refrigerator, you spotted the cake. Yay! There's a piece left! Happily bearing the dessert in one hand and a fork in the other, you returned to the living room and perched on the arm of the sofa. Peeking at Minseok from the corner of your eye, you caught him giving you a weird look.

"How can you relax, sitting like that?" asked Minseok, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh," you began, trying to find a good position and look comfortable and nearly falling off the couch in the process, "Talent."
​​​​​​
"Let's be comfortable with each other," Minseok suggested, with another heart-stopping smile. "You can sit closer than that, if you want. Roosting is for chickens. Are you a chicken?" he demanded, hopping up and examining you closely as if to inspect for evidence of fowl play. Quite suddenly, he poked you in the side and you let out a startled squeak. "Aigo, that sound was adorable. See, you're not a chicken. You're a little kitten. Kittens don't roost," concluded Minseok triumphantly.

Unable to argue with his logic, you scooted down into the spot next to his. Contentedly watching Dumbledore address the Great Hall, you stuffed a forkful of cake into your mouth. "Mmm," you ed. "So good." Damn, that's delicious. Turning to Minseok, you saw him staring at you with another odd look in his eyes, almost like longing. Oh, no! I'm eating the last of the cake. He must've wanted some. That was so thoughtless of me! "Did you want some?" you awkwardly offered him your plate.

"No," said Minseok blankly.

You shrugged, turning back to the movie ("Harry didja put yer name in the goblet of fiyahh?"). Lazily frosting off your finger, you felt eyes on you again. "I'm sorry I took the last piece. Do you at least want a bite?" you asked, a little confused.

"No." Minseok was smirking. 

 By now, Minseok wasn't even watching the movie. You could feel him watching you before you even took another bite. "Aish, just have a bite, okay?" You held up the cake-laden fork, and a startled Minseok opened his mouth obediently and allowed you to give him a bite. Your eyes met his dark brown ones, as his lips closed over the fork. Big mistake. His eyes were powerful magnets, pulling you in, so you couldn't look away. For just a moment, the world was moving in slow motion, or had time stopped altogether? But no. He blinked, and you jerked out of your trance. Pulling the fork away, you turned to face the television and tried to appear more casual than you felt. Your heart was beating rapidly. Reaching toward the popcorn, you grabbed some popcorn and stuffed it into your mouth to distract yourself. 

"Crunch, crunch, crunch," teased Minseok, puffing up his cheeks like a chipmunk. 

"Is my chewing that loud?" you asked, taken aback, hiding your mouth behind your hands.

"No, it's not loud."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't even worry about it."

"Okay.." hesitantly, you reached for some more popcorn and tried to munch on it relatively quietly. 

"Crunch, crunch, crunch," Minseok said under his breath, and you turned back to see him looking innocently at the ceiling. 

"Stop~" you pouted, pushing his shoulder. "You're making me self-conscious."

"Okay, I'll stop," said Minseok meekly.

You eyed him suspiciously, and put another piece of popcorn slowly into your mouth.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch." Minseok's eyes crinkled up into a mischievous smile.

"Yah! That's it, I'll go eat my popcorn in peace." You picked up your bowl of popcorn and stalked haughtily into the dark kitchen, plopping down on the floor and munching popcorn with as much sass as you could muster. 

Minseok followed you into the kitchen, switching on the light. "Come on, I'm just teasing. Please come watch Harry Potter with me," he wheedled. "How can you sit here and eat popcorn in the dark?" 
​​​​​​
"Turn the light back off!" you commanded. "It's night. Night time is supposed to be dark."

"But, lights are for lighting," Minseok objected. 

"Well, nights are for nighting, and nighting involves darking." You folded your arms with a self-satisfied smile.

Unable to respond to this, Minseok turned the light back off; meanwhile, you (recalling that you were still punishing him) turned away from him and primly continued to munch popcorn. Undaunted, he sat down across from you. "I feel like we have to talk more quietly now that it's darker in here," Minseok observed in a low voice.

"Yeah, that's one of the things I like about the dark. It kind of changes the energy of the room. Not to sound weird," you added as an afterthought, also in a whisper.

Minseok inched closer, leaning in so he could hear you. "Yeah, no, I kind of get what you mean. It's the same room, same people, same conversation. But with the lights off, I don't know. It's just... different." 

​Your eyes were adjusting to the dark, and again they were irresistibly attracted to Minseok. Hoping he couldn't tell in the dark, you studied his face, the curve of his neck, his eyes... his eyes, which right now were studying you with an expression you couldn't identify, that was both soft and serious.
​
"What are you looking at?" you asked, laughing nervously.  

"You." He smiled sweetly and rested his hand on your knee, causing you to jump slightly. "Hey," he murmured. "Relax. Have I done something to make you nervous?" His eyes were fixed on yours, mesmerizing you so your brain couldn't seem to function properly. 

"N-not exactly," you whispered, and Minseok leaned even closer to catch your soft words. You shivered as it occurred to you that you only had to move forward a little to close the distance between you two. "I just-" you faltered as he d your leg with his thumb. "I..." you tried again, but trailed off as you got lost in his gaze. 

Minseok didn't seem to be able to look away, either. "You have really pretty eyes," he mused, spellbound, absently tracing little patterns on your leg.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Blushing, you looked down at your hands.

​​​​"I mean, really. Like, I see you and you're always so cute and sweet and weird, but I look at your eyes and there's something else, something more. Something..." he edged nearer, so close you could feel his warm breath, smell his cologne. And he was staring at you like nothing else existed. You'd never seen him this intense before. "I don't know what it is. I just, I look at your eyes and it makes me want to know you better, to learn everything about you instead of just the bits and pieces you let me see."

​​​​​​"W-where is all this coming from?" you stuttered, caught off guard by his little outburst.

Minseok laughed humorlessly, running his hand through his hair. "I guess.. I think I'm falling in love with you."
​​​​​
You stared at him, eyes wide. "You- you what?" 

"I'm sorry, I know this is a lot, and I shouldn't have thrown all this at you without any warning, and I shouldn't have said anything, but I just-"

"Minseok-oppa," you interrupted.

Minseok stopped abruptly. He looked at you, then down to his hand, which you had impulsively grabbed when you were getting his attention. Then back to you, a flicker of hope in his eyes. "Yeah?"

You squeezed his hand. "Oppa, I.." Unsure how to continue, you leaned forward and hesitantly kissed him on the cheek. You began to pull away, but Minseok pulled you into a tight hug, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. You buried your face in his neck, also smiling. "Oppa?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if I want to call you 'Oppa' anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"I think 'Jagi' sounds better."
 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince  was now playing, and this time the audience was seated a little differently. You were shyly curled up against Minseok, his arm comfortably around your waist, the two of you snugly wrapped in a blanket. Your head was nestled against his chest, his chin resting on your head, and occasionally he would lean down to give you a little kiss or whisper something in your ear. You wanted to stay like this forever.

The front door swung open.

"I'm HO-OME! Guess what, my date was amazing, and I definitely- WHOA." Mina stopped in her tracks, gaping at you and Minseok. 

"Omo, Mina, I can explain-" you hastily began.

"I KNEW it." Mina cut you off, doing a little victory dance. "I KNEW you guys were supposed to get together. FINALLY, Minseok. It was killing me, shipping you guys so hard when HOLY WATERCRAFT you two are the two slowest people in the history of shipmates. The tension was going to kill me. It was about TIME! Baekhyun owes me SO MUCH MONEY." Mina paced about the room, gesturing dramatically as she spoke, and finally stalked into her bedroom and shut the door with a smug flourish.

You and Minseok looked at each other. 
"Okay, then..."