“So?!”

“So?”

“So what the hell happened next?” demanded Hyejin, her long legs bouncing rapidly against the side of the chair.

Narae looked up at her coyly, batting her eyelashes. “A lady like myself doesn’t kiss and tell.”

Hyejin pushed away from their conversational distance with a loud gasp. “You planted one on Heemin? So are you guys a thing now, or what?”

“I haven’t said anything,” Narae stated, and walked away from the gaping Hyejin with a teasing smile pressed against her lips.

But as soon as she walked outside the MBC spare room, she let out an exasperated sigh and a snort. As if she were one to hold in this kind of stuff. She told her girlfriends everything.

But what happened that night, months ago from today, had complicated things just a step further.

As Hyejin had guessed, she had planted one on Kian84. And that, Narae had hoped, was supposed to clarify everything.

“Ki-kiss you? What?”

Well, hell yeah. His feelings were all the consent she needed. Narae jumped up, took a firm hold of the collars of his shirt, and yanked him down to her as she landed.

As Kian84 stumbled to find his balance, Narae wasted no time, placing her hands against the side of his face, and placed her lip on his.

Well, that was the plan. She was a tad too short and he was a tad too tall. She ended up marking his chin.

She was so embarrassed, she couldn’t even think to do anything else. Awkward seconds passed, and she still had her lips planted against his chin. Out in the streets of Seoul, three in the morning.

Kian84 then started laughing softly, traces of disbelief and hilarity laced across his facial expression. For a second Narae thought he might be laughing at her. She started thinking maybe he didn’t love her after all, and she had been imagining the whole thing this whole time. He’d never actually said the three words. She started to feel regret creeping in, and she welcomed it bitterly.

What a fool. What a clown.

From where did it go wrong?

Howcouldshehavebeensorecklessaboutthisaftercountlessoftimesofhavingtogothroughthisdamnedcycleshe’ssostupidforthinkinghewouldbeinlovewithherofcoursehewouldn’tbeaclownlikeherhehadlookedatherasafriendandshehadmisinterpretedyetagain-

He kissed her.

His nose touching hers, fingertips gently pressed against her temples and jaw. He was cold. But his lips were burning hot against hers, and Narae let out a soft gasp.

She was too surprised, too vulnerable, too overwhelmed- tears start to stream down her cheeks as her eyes fluttered shut. She leaned in, for support and for- well, for a better angle.

It was sweet and salty and smoky.

Smoky from that of the night air.

It was wonderful.

Where did things go wrong?

Hours later.

A particular phone call from the ‘I Live Alone’ pd.

“Hello, Narae?”

“Yes, pd unnie. It’s unlikely of you to call at this hour. Some sort of emergency?”

“You haven’t heard yet? The photos were dispatched!”

Narae’s eyes widen as she turns to look at Kian84, horror struck. Her expression causes his eyes to also widen in alarm. “I- I’m so sorry, unnie. We didn’t mean for it to happen. And I didn’t think anyone would be around at this time by this place.”

“What?” Exasperation laced in her voice.

“What?” Narae was just as equally confused.

“About Hyejin and Hyunmoo!” The voice from the other line snapped, impatient. “Photos of them together have just been released into the media. I’ve just called them, and they’ve admitted to being in a relationship. To my understanding, they’ll make an official statement to the press soon.”

“What?!”

“I guess they haven’t told anyone, then. I thought maybe at least you knew. Well, no matter. They’re requesting an emergency meeting amongst the cast right now. I suggest you try to get in contact with the other members too. We’ve got to clear things up fast, as soon as possible.”

Some more hours later.

“What about us?”

“What about us?”

Narae let out an impatient sigh. Men. “You saw how it was with Hyejin and Hyunmoo. They’ve just released an official statement, and it had everyone flipping. It wouldn’t be right to burden everyone with- with us. Not so soon, and not until a long while later, I don’t think.”

Kian84 blinked, as if he were dazed. But from the red flush on his cheeks, Narae knew he was paying the utmost attention.

“I- I think we need some time.”

His words hurt in equivalence to a slap in the face. “What?” Narae fixed her incredulous stare at him, square on his face. She sounded indignant. Offended, if you will.

Where was the Kian84 from yesterday? The man who embraced her and kissed her tears away.

The anger melted away when he took her hands. His hands were clammy next to hers, soft and dry. His nervous aura made her doubts subside, and she decided that Kian84 was nothing short of being genuine.

“I meant, that I’d like for us to run a long run.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking, and I have to admit that I was bothered by the fact that until even yesterday, you were emotionally distressed over the person you were in love with.”

Narae opened to protest, but Kian84 was faster. “-I’m not accusing you or anything. I’m just suggesting that the feelings that you feel for me might not be love. Love, to me, is not an emotion. It’s not a feeling. Love is time, and the memories you build with that person. And it’s something I feel we both lack in each other, to a certain degree.”

Narae slumped over, looking crushed. “But most people start dating to build said love.” She couldn’t help but sound a little whiny.

“Yes. But for our case, I would like for it to be different.”

“How come?”

“Because,” Kian84 swallowed, the tip of his ears burning, and red crawling to his neck, “if what you felt for me persists throughout the years, and if said love builds until it stabilizes, I want to be your endgame.”

It took a while for his words to sink in, but by the time that it did, Narae’s eyes were flooded with tears, gleaming like the brightest stones would under sunlight.

“You want me to be your last?”

“The very last,” Kian84 confirmed, and pecked her a kiss on the forehead, which made Narae stagger. “And I won’t have it any other way, and I don’t want to start something if you don’t feel the same.”

“But of course I feel the same!” Narae claimed.

Kian84 snorted. “Who were you crying over yesterday?”

“Someone else,” Narae admitted angrily, “but I-“

“Again, not accusing you of anything. It took you less than a day for your feelings to change. I’m just saying there is a possibility it might change again.”

“What if it’s something like subconscious realization?”

Kian84 chuckled. “We’ll see.”

Narae crossed her arms. “So if we’re not in an official relationship, I guess it’s technically fine for me to start seeing other people?”

Kian’s eyes darkened, but his collected demeanor did not shift. “That is the purpose. If you start developing feelings for someone else, it meant you were bound to do so regardless of what we had. I have to accept it as it is.”

Narae spluttered, unable to hold in her laughter. “What an idiot.”

She was a clown, but not a fool, after all. Only a fool would lose hold of this man.

“Alright then, oppa. You better start saving for a silver band, diamond stone fixed in the center.”

Kian84 laughed, almost bashfully, almost with relief, and pulled Narae in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her head. (She was just too short.)

“End game?” He whispered above her head, sending chills to crash down her back.

“End game,” Narae promised.

Because she was a clown and he was an idiot.

A good looking, warm hearted person that his is, but an idiot nonetheless.

An idiot who wanted a clown to be his end game.

And what better match is out there than a clown and an idiot?