VIRAL LOVE Chapter 43 : PUNISHMENT The studio is quiet now as the sun begins to set. Si-jin can hear birds chirping on the tree branches outside the window from where he is sitting on the white sofa. The ambience is calming, the orange-yellow sun ray casts a lovely ambience in the room, everything seems peaceful and a stark contrast from the chaos they had witnessed barely an hour ago. He sighs as he watches Mo-yeon plugs her dead phone onto a charger she’d found at the receptionist table, something that probably belongs to Ji-soo or the receptionist herself. She glances at her boyfriend when she realizes he is staring at her before she gives him a small smile. “Wait there. I’ll go find the emergency kit.” “Seriously babe. This is nothing. Let’s just go home, neh?” He’s had a long day today, sitting in his sister's smaller-than-a-matchbox car while monitoring the pranks they’ve pulled on Min Yoon-gi the whole day and then rushing to Mo-yeon’s studio and dealing with the ruckus afterward. He’s hungry and tired and all he wants to do is find something delicious to eat with his girlfriend and then pull her into his arms and cuddle the whole night. “Stay there if you know what's good for you. No moving until I get that treated.” He makes a face. No arguing with his girl when she talk in that warning tone. Haish. Myeong-joo had said goodbye to them around half an hour ago, saying she has a date with Dae-young. Si-jin had made some subtle signal with his face and Myeong-joo just blinked innocently back at him. They both knew what that meant, ‘keep what we’ve done today a secret unless busted.’ Myeong-joo had given Mo-yeon a tight hug before she left, whispering to the songwriter how lucky her brother is to have her in his life. Mo-yeon had prettily blushed at her words before she pinched the younger girl’s cheeks in reply. --- “So…..” Si-jin begins as Mo-yeon busies herself applying rubbing alcohol on the wound on his fist. Uh-oh. He’s going to ask about the recording. She presses a tiny bit harder. Just enough to distract him. “Owwwh…yaah careful babe!” She hides the smirk and makes a face at his whiny tone. “Oh, this hurts? I thought it didn’t hurt before when you punched the psycho jerkward?” “Says the girl who ran around her studio chasing the guy with her guitar.” “Yaah stop mentioning that! You’ll never let me live that down, won’t you?” Si-jin bursts out laughing at her indignant reply. “I think I’ll never ever forget that moment….” He looks at her with adoration in his eyes as Mo-yeon carefully applies band-aid on his knuckles. “I didn't think it's possible before but I fell in love deeper with you at that moment.” Mo-yeon grins widely at her boyfriend’s words and drops a kiss on the back of his hand in response. “All better now. Are you ready to go home?” “Not yet. I wanted to ask you something first.” Here it comes. Mo-yeon groans and touches her stomach. “But I’m so hungry! Let’s go eat dinner first!” She tries to sit up and gasps when Si-jin abruptly grabs her hand and gently pulls her back down. She loses her balance and lands on his lap. “Yaah! You could just say you want me to sit down!” The footballer smirks while he adjusts her position to a more comfortable one, his arms sneaking around her waist to keep her steady. She sighs with a small smile on her face before she puts her hands on his forearms and squeezes him affectionately. “Heol…your biceps are insane…and you haven’t been to the gym in ages! One of these days I’m going to make popcorn and just sit on the sofa and watch you weightlift. I bet it’s better than watching a movie.” He just snorts in reply. “Thank you for the generous complement babe, but I still want to know why I’ve only ever heard about that drunk jerkward’s video today.” She sighs and then makes a sad apologetic face. “Sorry about that, honey.” He raises his brow. “And….?” “And I’ll never do it again, okay?” He shots her an unimpressive look. “And….?” “And what?” This is like pulling teeth, haish. “And the explanation?” “Oh, right! So, Dae-young was the one who told me about it after we arrived here that other day. I’ve been friends with Lim