Shin Hye's eomeoni suggested that she go with her to the hospital. 

"What for?" Shin Hye asked, chewing gum mindlessly.

"To visit a friend's son," Eomma said.

Shin Hye protested because she hated hospitals, but her eomma insisted that she come along.

"Her son is really nice," Eomma said. "You might even be friends with him."

Shin Hye half-heartedly agreed to come along.

****

Shin Hye was a college student who was rather careless when it comes to other's feelings--insensitive, rather. She only liked her likes, and she often flirted with hot guys. Most consider her a because she often gets away with what she wants, and she often break couples up due to her manner of flirting and stealing guys away.

She hated the idea of visiting the hospital because she hated the smell. And maybe, her eomeoni's friend's son is a geek who do nothing  but stare at atoms and molecules using the eye.

When they got inside the hospital room, both eomeonis greeted each other, and she bowed and greeted half-politely.

"This is my daughter, Shin Hye," Eomma said.

"Omo, she is a pretty lady," Mdm. Jung said.

"Gomapda," Shin Hye's eomma replied.

"Gomapseumnida," Shin Hye said boredly.

Mdm. Jung introduced Shin Hye and her son to each other. Shin Hye noticed Yong Hwa wearing shades, so she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Does he have sore eyes?" Shin Hye asked insensitively.

Yong Hwa's eomeonim got a bit offended, so her eomma apologized and explained to her that Yong Hwa was blind. Mdm. Jung and Mdm. Park excused themselves to talk to each other at the lobby and catch up on things, leaving Shin Hye behind.

"You have a pretty name," Yong Hwa said with his husky voice.

"Geurae? I have never been interested in mine," Shin Hye replied.

She grabbed his visor, and the poor guy had to grasp the air to look for it.

"Where are my shades?" he asked in panic.

Shin Hye watched him in her satisfaction. She enjoyed teasing him--or even bullying him. When she saw his eyes, she was rather fascinated. For a blind guy like him, his eyeballs and pupils were not deformed.

"You look hot!" Shin Hye told him.

"Huh?"

"I like hot guys," Shin Hye said before going near him. "Have you tried... hitting on a girl?"

"I do not hit on girls," he replied politely but with slight agitation on his voice. 

"Well, it is my forte," she said. "I love guys, and I love flirting."

"If there is one art that I am not good at, that would be it," Yong Hwa said. "Now, will you please return my shades?"

Shin Hye promised to return it, on one condition. He asked what it was, and so shocked was he when he felt a pair  of lips crushing his seductively. After the kiss, Shin Hye returned his shades.

"See? I told you, I am good at flirting," she bragged.

"Sorry, I do not like you," he said.

Shin Hye got hurt. No guy had ever spoken to her like that and brushed her away as if she were nothing. Most of the guys she had flirted with, including those with girlfriends, liked her.

"Mwo?" she asked.

"You heard it right," he said. "And I do not like flirts."

Shin Hye fisted her hands in anger.

"Geurae! Just... just live with outdated girls!" she retorted.

She exited the room in anger, leaving him alone in the room.

****

At dinner time, Shin Hye complained to her mom that Yong Hwa was such a bastard.

"Watch your mouth!" Eomma said. "Aigoo. I know I raised you right, but it seems you are not being a good girl."

"Good girls are outdated, Eomma," Shin Hye retorted. "The bad girls are in."

"Shin Hye-ya, guys might like flirty girls, but they prefer old-fashioned girls to spend their whole life with."

"Who cares about marriage?" Shin Hye asked.

"That is why I am telling you to stop flirting and get serious with your studies, huh?" Eomma said. "Aigoo..."

*****

That night, Shin Hye, though very angry, could not get her mind off of Yong Hwa. He was too hot, he was handsome, and his voice was y. Too bad, he did not look at  her the way she looked at him. And despite her y and flirty nature, tears suddenly fell from her eyes.

"Why am I crying over him?" she asked herself. "Do...do I like him?"

She could not deny the fact that he was heaven, she was earth. And she could not deny that she had a crush on him.

*****

She decided to act demure even if it was against her will, just to impress him. That afternoon, after lectures, she went to the hospital and brought some good things to eat. When she came in the room, Mdm. Jung was surprised and yet suspicious that Shin Hye acted demurely.

"I... I need to get to the cafeteria," Mdm. Jung said, faking a smile.

Shin Hye definitely felt that, but it did not bother her.

"Why are you here?" Yong Hwa asked in suspicion.

"To visit you, of course," she said.

She placed the food on the table, grabbed a chair, and sat in front of him. She grabbed his hands, much to his shock.

"For kissing you yesterday, joesonghamnida," she said.

Yong Hwa did not know if she was faking it or not.

"I'm serious," she said. "I... I like to be your friend."

Yong Hwa, who was used to listen to people's emotions in their voices, found her to be credible. So, he believed her and accepted her friendship.

*****

Mdm. Jung finally accepted Shin Hye to visit Yong Hwa, and she got to know why Yong Hwa was admitted. He had back pains. One day, she found him strumming his guitar. She saw a musical piece on his lap and asked about the title.

"O, this? 'Behind Closed Eyes'," he said.

Shin Hye looked at the piece and asked him if she could play the guitar. He nodded and gave her his instrument. Shin Hye looked at the piece and started to strum up to the last note.

"You got a lot of parts wrong," Yong Hwa said.

"Mwo?" she ejeculated.

He told her to come, and she came forward. He held her hand as he taught her where to place each finger.

"Now, strum,"  he ordered.

Shin Hye did as instructed, and she received some more negative comments from him.

"I could tell," he said. "I am blind, remember?"

"How are you able to make a piece like this when..." she asked when she noticed raised marks on the paper. "Braille?"

"You thought it was not possible?" Yong Hwa asked.

She gave him back the guitar, and he told her to listen closely. When he began strumming, she took note of how he played the song. But when he started to sing, her  heart gave away. His voice was  beautiful.

"I... I have fallen in love with him..."she gasped.

*****

She did her best to give up flirting because she wanted to be Yong Hwa's ideal woman. He preferred simple and old-fashioned girls who were demure. Not that she'd wear ajumma clothes.

Saturday afternoon, she visited him again, bringing goodies. Mdm. Jung was  happy to have her because she needed to get home to get more change of clothes for Yong Hwa. When his eomma went out, Yong Hwa told Shin Hye to come closer. She obliged, and when he asked to touch her face, she allowed him. She let him feel the contour of her face, her nose, her eyebrows... and she blushed when he felt  her lips.

"You're beautiful," he said.

Shin Hye was speechless, and was even more speechless when he leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. She did not reciprocate because of her shock.

"Neol johahae (I like you)," he confessed.

He told her that at first, he hated her, but that encounter made him interested in her.

"I was angry at that time, but I was hoping you would come back," he said.

Shin Hye wrapped her arms around him and replied. "I came back, right?"

Yong Hwa wrapped  his arms around her as well.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.

Shin Hye was dumbstruck, so she answered with a dull "yes." When she realized that he asked, she woke up from her trance and replied that she wanted to be his girlfriend. After the hug, both of them met face to face.

"Will you allow your boyfriend to kiss you again?" he asked.

Shin Hye agreed, and this time, she leaned forward and surprised him with a kiss.

~~~~END~~~~

(up next, another one-shot fic)

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