“I missed you,” Namjoon whispers, his arms tightening around me. His voice is enough trigger for me, tears falling as I hug him back. He gently soothes my hair as I cry into his chest.

 

“I’m here,” he comforts. “I’m here, it’s okay.”

 

I don’t know for how long we stand like that but my legs start to give way beneath me. Namjoon maintains his hold on me to stop me from falling.

 

“Let’s get you home first,” he says. Slowly letting go of me and making sure I can stand on my own, he takes big strides across the pavement to the kerb of the road where he quickly flags down an approaching cab. He then comes back and taking my hand leads me over. He gives my address to the driver. With his arms around my shoulders, Namjoon lets me lean into him as the driver speeds off.

 

I haven’t felt so at ease in a while. This feeling of comfort and security… I look up at Namjoon and he smiles my favourite dimply smile at me before taking my hand into his lap and intertwining our fingers. The cab driver glances at us through the rear mirror.

 

“Aren’t you that idol?” He asks, and as if electrocuted I immediately pull my hand out of Namjoon’s grasp and lean the other direction. Namjoon frowns at me before politely answering the driver’s question.

 

“Girlfriend?” The driver asks again. Worry lines my forehead. What if he tells people about this? Namjoon… Bangtan…

 

“Yes, she’s my girlfriend.”

 

I glare at Namjoon. Wait, what?

 

“No! We’re not a couple,” I quickly clarify.

 

“What a pity,” the driver tells me. Huh…? “He seems to really love you. I can see it in his eyes.”

 

Namjoon turns to look at me, his gaze filled with affection. “I do.”

 

Heat creeps up to my face and I’m thankful to the dark for hiding my blush. I turn away unsure of how to respond and as my heart pumps a little too quickly, it skips a beat when I make eye contact with Namjoon through the reflection on the window.

 

When we finally reach, Namjoon tells me to get down first as he pays the driver. Not listening, I watch him as he takes his wallet out, hands over a few notes, collect his change and keep his wallet. Namjoon raises his eyebrows at me when he notices I’m still sitting beside him. He smiles and shakes his head before climbing out on his side, rounding over and opening the door for me. He takes my hand and pulls me out, not forgetting to thank the driver as he closes the door.

 

“What’s wrong?” Namjoon asks suddenly.

 

“Hmm?” I look up at him with a blank face.

 

“Even earlier you’ve been looking pretty out of it.” There is an undeniable worry in his voice.

 

“I-” I want to say something but I’m disrupted by the ringing of my phone. “Hello? Ah, right. I’m almost done with that. I’ll send it to you in a couple of hours. Bye.” 

 

“Who was that?”

 

“Classmate. Oppa, thanks for sending me home. Go back safely. I still have lots of work to do so-”

 

Why do I keep getting interrupted! But oh, this is… Kim Namjoon! My eyes widen as Namjoon crashes his lips onto mine. I push him away immediately.

 

“What are you doing!” I look around subconsciously. “What if someone sees you?”

 

“Are you worried about me now?” There is a small smirk on his face but it falls quickly. “If you know to worry about others, why not worry about yourself too? We haven’t met in so long and all you tell me is ‘Go back safely’? And what is with your face? You look like you haven’t been sleeping for the past month. Are you even eating?”

 

I stand shocked at his sudden outburst.

 

“Do you want to come up, then?” I tilt my head at him. It’s true that I have assignments to catch up on and I really should get started on them soon. Without waiting for his response, I walk ahead into the lobby and press for the lift. Namjoon hurries in after me. I roll my eyes but when I look up at him, my face heats up uncontrollably.

 

Namjoon notices this and smiles a cheeky smile as he his lips. I turn away to stare at an imaginary spot on the floor. Why is the lift taking so long? I look up and realise that none of us had pressed the button for my floor so we’re still on ground level. Blushing in embarrassment, I reach out for the button but Namjoon stops me by covering it with his hand. With his other hand, he traps me against the wall.

 

“What are you doing?” There is a slight stammer to my words. The more he inches closer, the faster my heart beats.

 

“Byeol-ah,” he calls my name, leaning down and bringing his face closer to mine. As he closes the final bit of space, I squeeze my eyes shut.

 

Any time now…

 

Three seconds pass and when I still don’t feel anything, I open my eyes. Namjoon smirks at me.

 

“I was going to say,” he whispers into my ear, “I’m hungry, cook me fried rice.”

 

Ah, the disappointment. Rolling my eyes, I swat his hand off the button panel and press for my floor. The lift starts up and the number on the display starts increasing, signalling that we’re finally moving up. Namjoon casually wraps an arm over my shoulders as if just now hadn’t happened.

 

“What were you thinking of, my dear Byeol?”

 

I assume his question is rhetorical and ignore it, crossing my arms in front of me. The lift dings and I quickly exit, speed walking to my unit and swiftly keying in the passcode. Namjoon enters after me and closes the door behind as he removes his shoes.

 

Fried rice? I ransack the fridge and find some eggs, ham, and – miraculously – kimchi. Do I even have rice? I check the cooker and… well, unfortunately for Namjoon, no rice.

 

“Oppa!” I call for the guy making himself very comfortable on my sofa. Sprawled on out his stomach, he’s busying himself with typing on his phone.

 

“Yeah?” He looks up momentarily.

 

“You’re going to have to make do with instant noodles. No rice.”

 

“I’m fine with anything you cook.” And he goes back to his little screen. Shrugging, I pull out my instant noodles and start boiling water in a pot. Namjoon leisurely strolls into the kitchen and looks into the fridge for cold water. I take the bottle from him and replace it with a glass of warm water. He downs the liquid in one shot before automatically taking spoons and chopsticks out to set the table. Namjoon returns and latches himself onto the doorframe, leaning against it and watching me.

 

“It’s almost done,” I tell him without taking my eyes off the pot. “Didn’t you eat lunch? Oh crap, do you have morning schedules tomorrow? You’re going to look so bloated after eating instant noodles. How about you just eat something lighter instead?” I put my chopsticks down and just before I can turn around, pair of hands wraps itself around my waist from behind.

 

“Byeol-ah,” Namjoon calls my name.

 

“Hmm?” I wriggle free and turn around to face him.

 

“Be with me.”

 

I’m not sure I understood that correctly.

 

“Be with me, Byeol,” he repeats himself, taking my hands in his.

 

I look down at out my hands clutched in his. “Oppa…”

 

“I really cannot do without you. The past one month… I don’t even know how I survived not seeing you for so long. Byeol…” He slowly brings a hand up to caress my face, lifting it up so I meet his eyes. I see a whirlpool of emotions in his eyes – excitement, anticipation, worry and fear.

 

“I shouldn’t have let you leave in the first place. It was all my fault – I was too weak. You have no idea how much I hate letting that bastard get to me. When you left, I’d thought I’d lose you forever. I-”

 

Now is my turn to cut him off. With my arms around his neck, I pull him in and plant a soft peck on his lips. I let myself linger there for a while longer before pulling back.

 

“Byeol…”

 

“Wow, I really wanted to do that for a while now,” I accidentally voice out my thoughts. My cheeks flush when I realise my mistake. “No! I mean… not that…”

 

Namjoon smirks. “Really? I’ve been thinking of something more like this.” With that, he leans in again for a kiss. The difference between a peck and a kiss… If I didn’t know before, I know now.

 

The desire in the intensity of his kiss is blaring and I wonder at first if I can return the same but he leads me on swiftly. Totally forgetting about the instant noodles over-boiling on the stove, the two of us stand in the middle of the kitchen lips interlocked until we run out of breath.

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