Being her flatmate for almost a year and a half started to take its toll on Taeyong. He never told her that he already liked her way back from the first time they both met, but knowing she was going to be his flatmate made him nervous and worried. She might not feel the same way if he made a confession, and everything would just go awkward from there. So he resolved on being the close friend of hers that she could always go to whenever she had problems, the best friend that would always be there for her. He tried to brush off the feeling, only for it to came back again like the ocean waves. His heart was stubborn, so he gave up denying it. It didn’t help that she always looked so pretty, but maybe he was just biased.

Little did he know, she was on the exact same board. He was her cute, kindhearted, enticing flatmate. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for anyone she just met, but the guy was different, in a good way. It was weird at first, he was cold and his gaze was electrifying; the kind of stare that pierced right through her eyes. It took her almost the entire week to finally see his lips curled up in a smile, and boy was that a sight to behold. He didn’t warm up easily to her, but at least she managed to talk a little after, and he slowly became one of the most trusted person she has ever had in your life. For the past year, he successfully became her best friend, and still also held his position firmly in her heart. He sometimes cooked for her, comforted her whenever she was sick or having her period, he talked to her about your days, he entertained her when she was down, and he also nagged her a lot about her cleanliness, but it was all so endearing in her eyes that she couldn’t help but fell a little more with each passing second.

That night was two days before the most important exam of the semester, and she were struggling to stay awake with all the thick books scattered in front of her, her laptop on the side and her notes on top of its keyboard. She chugged a couple bottles of energy drink to keep herself up but the materials were no joke. There were so many things to review even though she had gone through almost half of the book. She even forgot to eat dinner, having too caught up on the practice quizzes.

It was already 11 p.m. by the time he arrived at the flat after dance practice. He wondered if she had slept, because he knew she looked especially tired these days, when exam weeks came around. He placed his bag on the couch and walked to the kitchen, but he saw no traces of washed plate, and immediately assumed she hadn’t had her dinner, which was correct almost every time. He sighed, she never took a good care of herself and it made him worry a lot. He went to his room to shower and changed out of his clothes before making something for her.

He peeked through her slightly ajar door and see her back facing him, her head fell flat against the table. He chuckled, opening the door wider to let himself in. She had fallen asleep on top of her textbook, oblivious to him arriving home and cooking in the kitchen.

“Hey. Wake up.” He shook her shoulder lightly. “Hey.”

She groaned at the interruption of her extremely good sleep. She slowly pried her eyes open, not recognizing the blurry face in front of her and was trying to shut her eyes again after, only to be awakened by the gurgling laughter of a familiar voice.

“You should just sleep and continue in the morning, you know.” He chuckled, closing stacking the closed books neatly at the side.

She yawned, peeling her face off the table and sat up straighter. “Oh you’re back? How was your practice?”

He sat on the side of her bed. “Usual thing.” He grinned. “Doyoung is even more frustrated! I don’t understand why he wanted to take dance class in the first place.”

“He’s cute, just let him off the hook.” She snorted, knowing full well of the ability that frenemy of Taeyong had.

“You think he’s cute?” His eyebrow raised, there was a small frown on his face.

She looked at him skeptically. “Why are you looking at me like that? You want me to say you’re cute as well?”

He pouted. “Nevermind.” He got up from the bed, making a beeline towards the door. “I made you food, I know you haven’t eat dinner. How many times I’ve told you to take care of yourself, the least you can do is eat properly 3 times a day. If you’re sick during exam weeks I wouldn’t be able to-”

“Okay, okay, mom, I get it.”

He turned back and glared furiously at her, earning a laugh from her as he stormed off the room. She abruptly got up and chased him, tugging on the hem of his t-shirt.

“Hey now, don’t fret! I’m sorry, Taeyongie.” She grinned at him. “Oooh! French toast? Isn’t it too early for breakfast?” She eyed the plate of the crisp, perfect golden brown toast and a bottle of her favorite flavoured milk tea on the living room table.

“Breakfast at midnight is good for stressful week.” He said nonchalantly, standing firmly at his spot.

She walked to sit on the couch, her hand still tugging his t-shirt so he complied and come to sit next to her, turning the TV on. She grabbed the plate and stabbed a piece, popping it into .

“Thank you, Yongie.” She scrunched her nose at him, mumbling between her chews. He gave her a side eye before turning his attention back to whatever was being played on the screen.

Feeling more refreshed, she decided to review some more pages while eating since he looked like he wasn’t in the mood to talk and just contentedly watching. She got up, hurrying over to her room to snatch a book and plopped back onto the sofa.

She was immersed in her reading while munching the pieces of the toast that he cut in bite sizes before looking up to find the bottle of milk tea to washed it down, and was met by his intense stare instead. It seemed like he hadn’t paid attention to the television for a while, his body facing her.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

Her breath hitched on as he leaned forward and suddenly he was too close for her comfort. She could feel the hot puffs of air from his slightly opened mouth fanning her face, and it felt like the world stopped rotating and her heart stopped beating when he pressed his soft, pink lips on the corner of , the tip of his tongue in between as he gently whatever was left there. She squeezed her eyes shut at the overwhelming feeling, her senses flared up when he continued to move his lips to finally kiss her at the perfect spot, right on top of her lips. It took a few seconds for her to return the gesture, she was too startled and she couldn’t think straight. Hell, she could barely think at the moment, her mind was blank. The only thing that was in her mind was Lee Taeyong. His movement was gentle, his right hand moved to cup her face and his thumb caressed her face softly as the other hand was placed on her waist, keeping her steady. The uncomfortableness of the hard book pressed against both of their laps was gone unnoticed; everything seemed to slow down the moment he retracted his lips from her own.

She blinked with half-lidded eyes, her mind was buzzing with euphoria and confusion. The look on his face instantly changed, like there was a switch button. His eyes focused back to hers, unbelievably large as saucers. “Oh my God, I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was doing, you look incredibly cute with that flannel pajamas and your messy bed hair and your concentrated face while there were crumbs of toast on your lips I just can’t hold myself back any longer I hope you’re not mad at me Oh my God what do I do now?!” He was on the verge of breaking down, panicking as he abruptly stood up from the couch.

Her hand quickly wrapped on his wrist, preventing him from going further. “Taeyong, what was that?”

He looked back at her warily, visibly gulping as he tried to find his words. He groaned in defeat and sat back down, removing the book from her lap before encasing her hand in his warmth one, pulling her closer.

“I… Uh… I like you. I like you so much, way back from the first time we knew each other. I was nervous, I didn’t know how to behave around you so I was cold and distant. But you made an effort to talk to me… You make it impossible for me not to love you.” He his lips, his eyes shut in worry before he opened it again. “I like you a lot, and I’m sorry I did something reckless like that, I shouldn’t have done that. I mean, I don’t know how you feel towards me and it was rude of me. What if I ruined our friendship, oh God.”

She stared at him in disbelief. All this time and she didn’t know if he was oblivious, or she was dense not to notice.

“I like you too, silly.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

She moved forward and kissed him again, earning a contented sigh from him. She broke the kiss, leaning on his forehead. “You take care of me, you listen to my stories, you’re the best friend I have ever wanted in my life. I’m glad I did the right thing…” she smiled, his eyes were looking at her in wonder.

“You make it impossible not to love you back.”